Alex Spendolini is best known as the mother of Olympic diver Andrea Spendolini Sirieix, but she is also a highly dedicated fitness professional and former director of Fred Sirieix AOS Limited. Her Italian heritage and calm parenting style helped create the foundation for Andrea’s athletic journey, offering emotional stability, daily encouragement, and a consistent presence through years of training and competition.
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Introduction
Alex Spendolini is known for her quiet strength, steady devotion, and the unwavering support she has given her daughter, British Olympic diver Andrea Spendolini Sirieix. Though she remains largely out of the spotlight, her influence runs deep, shaping Andrea’s confidence, discipline, and character both in and out of the pool.
In this blog, we explore who Alex Spendolini is, her background, her role in Andrea’s journey, and the remarkable impact she continues to make behind the scenes.
Quick Facts About Alex Spendolini
Full Name: Alessandra Alex Spendolini
Nationality: Italian
Residence: United Kingdom
Profession: Strength and conditioning trainer and former company director
Known For: Mother of Olympic diver Andrea Spendolini Sirieix
Children: Andrea and Lucien
Former Partner: Fred Sirieix
Company Role: Director of Fred Sirieix AOS Limited from 2016 to 2018
Media Appearance: Featured with Andrea in Toyota UK’s 2025 learner driver content
Early Life and Cultural Roots
Not much is publicly recorded about Alex’s childhood, but what is clear is that she grew up in Italy, surrounded by culture, warmth, and an emphasis on family values. These elements often shape Italian households and are reflected strongly in the way Alex raised her children.
Her Italian roots also gave Andrea a powerful sense of identity. In interviews, Andrea speaks proudly of her French and Italian heritage, and that pride undoubtedly started at home. Alex brought her cultural traditions, her sense of home, and her values to the United Kingdom, creating a warm environment that helped her children thrive.
Family Life with Fred Sirieix
For around twelve years, Alex Spendolini was in a committed relationship with French television personality Fred Sirieix, well known for his role on the show First Dates. Together they welcomed two children. Andrea, born in 2004, and her younger brother Lucien.
Although Alex and Fred eventually separated, their co parenting relationship remained respectful, stable, and centered on their children’s wellbeing. Fred has spoken fondly about his family, and Andrea has repeatedly expressed that both her parents gave her the emotional structure and confidence she needed to pursue diving at the highest level.
One of the most admirable things about Alex is that she handled a separation from a public figure without letting the situation turn chaotic. Instead, she chose grace, privacy, and commitment to her family.
Career and Professional Path
Alex is not only a devoted parent. She has her own professional background that reflects structure, skill, and leadership.
Former Company Director
From 2016 to 2018, Alex served as a director and majority shareholder of Fred Sirieix AOS Limited. This was a genuine leadership role that required financial responsibility and decision making. It demonstrates her ability to manage complex tasks while also balancing her responsibilities at home.
Strength and Conditioning Training
Various sources note that Alex also works as a strength and conditioning trainer, a field that aligns with discipline, health, and long term development. This background connects naturally with the demands of her daughter’s athletic life. While Andrea trained her body to perform world class dives, Alex understood the physical and mental balance required for sustained performance.
Her involvement in the fitness world also explains her calm, structured attitude. It is a mindset that blends physical wellbeing with emotional resilience.
A Mother’s Role In Building a World Class Athlete
Andrea’s diving story is filled with remarkable milestones, but behind each one is a mother who believed in her long before the world did. Alex encouraged Andrea to try diving when she was young, and what began as curiosity soon became a career shaped by hard work and sacrifice.
Andrea has spoken openly about her mother attending long training sessions, sometimes lasting three hours or more, and being the steady emotional force when competition pressure grew. She has also mentioned that she often gives her medals back to her family because she sees their victories as shared accomplishments.
This emotional maturity does not come from sport. It comes from home. It comes from a parent who teaches humility, gratitude, and perspective.
A Rare Public Glimpse: Toyota UK Feature
In 2025, Alex made one of her only public appearances when she joined Andrea in a Toyota UK film documenting Andrea’s experience learning to drive. It was a simple moment, but revealing.
In the video, Alex sits calmly in the passenger seat as her daughter navigates the challenges of driving. Their conversations are warm, playful, and reassuring. The dynamic is unmistakable. Andrea may be an Olympian, but she is also a teenager learning something new, and Alex is the grounding presence offering guidance instead of pressure.
This brief appearance showed audiences what Andrea experiences daily. Encouragement. Humor. Patience. Support without ego.
Personality and Values That Define Her
Even with limited public exposure, some qualities shine clearly through everything known about Alex Spendolini.
She values privacy
Despite her daughter’s fame and her former partner’s public presence, she remains quietly in the background, protecting her family and personal life.
She leads with steadiness
Her work, her parenting, and her choices reflect structure without rigidity and support without over involvement.
She practices humility
She has never tried to use her daughter’s success or her former partner’s career to elevate her own profile.
She believes in showing up
This is perhaps her strongest trait. Whether it is a three hour training session or a low key driving lesson, she is there. Consistently. Patiently. Quietly.
These qualities make her one of the most influential people in Andrea’s life and a model of what strong parenting looks like away from the spotlight.
Conclusion: A Legacy Carried Quietly and Powerfully
Alex Spendolini’s story is not one of fame. It is one of influence.
Her impact lives in her daughter’s confidence, in her discipline, in her humility, and in her ability to face pressure with both joy and steadiness. Alex did not chase recognition, yet her presence is felt every time Andrea steps onto a platform and takes a breath before a dive.
Her legacy is the kind that lasts the longest. It is written in the character of her children, in the strength she nurtured quietly, and in the love she offered without needing validation.
In a world that often rewards loudness, Alex Spendolini reminds us that some of the strongest people are the ones standing just outside the spotlight, shaping greatness with patience, kindness, and unwavering commitment.
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