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BBC viewers are left bemused as First Dates maître d' Fred Sirieix is drafted in as a commentator for the Paris Olympics closing ceremony


BBC viewers were left bemused on Sunday by the broadcaster's decision to draft in First Dates maître d' Fred Sirieix, 52, as a commentator for the Paris Olympics closing ceremony.

Gold medal winners Alex Yee, who won the triathlon, and trampolinist Bryony Page were chosen to be Team GB’s flag-bearers to lead the athletes’ closing parade inside the stadium in the French capital. Whatever happens, Paris 2024 organisers will be anxious to avoid a repeat of the controversy sparked by the opening ceremony, which featured drag queens in a sequence that some Christians and conservatives thought mocked the Biblical story of the Last Supper. The showpiece drew some criticism for a banquet scene where an actor playing Greek god Dionysus took centre stage on a table with drag queens, which was interpreted to resemble Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper painting.

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