'My boobs will have to be strapped in': Gemma Merna set to give 'male viewers a treat' on Splash! after overcoming her fear of water
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After overcoming her fear of water, Gemma Merna is now ready to take the plunge in a racy sparkly swimsuit when the new series of Splash! kicks off on Saturday.
The Hollyoaks star opened up about her phobia, caused by a traumatic event as a child, as well as her opening night look ahead of the ITV show's launch.
The 29-year-old told the Daily Star: 'It's very sparkly and quite bright. I'm sure it will give the male viewers a treat - I've got to make an impression.'
'It's very sparkly': After overcoming her fear of water, Gemma Merna is now ready to take the plunge in a racy swimsuit when the new series of Splash! kicks off
She added: 'But my boobs will have to be strapped in because you hit the water so hard the suit could come off.'
The actress set herself the challenge of being able to swim under water again before her 30th birthday which, at the start, left her suffering from panic attacks.
However she has now conquered her fear, and will be taking on the three-meter board alongside her fellow celebrities in the opening show.
Challenge: The actress said she wanted to be able to swim under water again before her 30th birthday
Explaining how her fear started, Gemma said: 'An instructor pushed me in and I was drowning and didn't come up for ages.'
The blonde beauty has suffered a number of injuries since training began, including giving herself a black eye after she punched herself in the face after opening her arms mid-dive.
She will be competing against good friend Gemma Collins, Diversity's Perri Kiely, presenter Michaela Strachan and fellow soap actor Ricky Groves.
She is currently backing 18-year-old Perri to win the series, in line with bookies-odds, which is presented by Olympian Tom Daley.
The bronze-medal winner shared a snap with his Instagram followers of the show's set on Saturday.
Gemma's former Hollyoaks costar also offered his support, tweeting her to say: 'Goodluck to my former oaks wifey @gemmamerna on splash! Wanna see the triple somersault twist we practiced in LA, if all else fails, cannonball'.
Splash! starts on ITV1 on Saturday at 7.20pm.
The gang: Gemma with fellow competitors Perri Kiely, Gemma Collins, Michaela Strachan and Ricky Groves
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2533756/Gemma-Merna-set-male-viewers-treat-Splash-overcoming-fear-water.html#ixzz2pTO62g5x
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