QUICK TAKE

ABC ANNOUNCES JOEY LAWRENCE AND CHARISSA THOMPSON AS HOSTS OF "SPLASH," PREMIERING MARCH 19

ABC announces Joey Lawrence (ABC Family's "Melissa & Joey") and Charissa Thompson (ESPN's "SportsNation") as hosts of the new diving competition series, "Splash," where ten celebrity contestants will face their fears as they flip, twist and spin into the depths of the pool below, premiering TUESDAY, MARCH 19 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

"Splash" marks the first time ten celebrities will train and compete in regulation platform and springboard diving at dizzying heights in front of a weekly poolside audience. After training with professional divers and being mentored by the world's most decorated and medaled diving legend, Greg Louganis, their dives will be critiqued by two judges, London Olympic U.S. Gold medalist David Boudia and Australian Olympic athlete and USA Dive Team director Steve Foley.

JOEY LAWRENCE -- Joey Lawrence is one of the most sought after actors in the entertainment business today. With a career spanning over 25 years in film, television and music, Lawrence has been in the public eye since he was six. He rose to pop-culture fame as a teenager on the '90s hit television series "Blossom," where his character, Joey Russo, stole the hearts of teenage girls around the globe and helped aid in a flannel-grunge fashion craze. Today Lawrence can be seen starring on the hit ABC Family series "Melissa & Joey," with Melissa Joan Hart. After successful first and second seasons, which appealed to over 2 million viewers, Season 3 is set to return this May. In addition to starring on the show, Lawrence also holds executive producer credits and directed an episode for Season 2. Aside from acting, Lawrence has also made his mark in on the business side of the industry, producing and directing projects over the years. He owns and runs a full service production company, JL VERITAS, which serves as a development slate for both scripted and non-scripted shows. The company currently produces "Melissa & Joey" for ABC Family. In addition to "Melissa & Joey," Lawrence recently sold a script to Disney with the producers of "Wedding Crashers" entitled "Mr. Everything," which he will co-produce and star in, and he recently sold a project to Nickelodeon.

CHARISSA THOMPSON -- Charissa Thompson is currently the co-host of ESPN2's "SportsNation," along with Marcellus Wiley. Thompson joined ESPN in September 2011 as the co-host of ESPN2's "Numbers Never Lie" and, after frequent guest appearances on "SportsNation," moved into the permanent co-host role in June 2012. Prior to joining ESPN, Thompson covered the NHL for Versus, from 2010-11, including the 2010 All-Star Game and Stanley Cup Finals. In 2010 she reported on the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games, FIFA World Cup, BCS National Championship Game, Super Bowl and NBA All-Star Game for Yahoo! Sports. She has also appeared on NFL Network and co-hosted programming on the Speed Network. In 2009 Thompson was a sideline reporter for ABC's "Shaq Vs." show. She began her career at Fox Sports Network (FSN) Los Angeles in the Human Resources department. She then became a production assistant with FSN Rocky Mountain (Denver), which led to her first on-air role covering the Colorado Rockies for the network's "Rockies All Access" program. Thompson eventually relocated back to Los Angeles to co-host FSN's "The Best Damn Sports Show Period." Her responsibilities expanded to include NFL sideline reporting on Fox, along with the Big Ten Network's game of the week. She also covered college basketball for the Big Ten Network. A native of Seattle, Thompson graduated from UC-Santa Barbara with a degree in law and society.

"Splash" is from Eyeworks USA and is based on the breakout hit and Dutch format, "Celebrity Splash." The series is executive-produced by JD Roth, Todd A. Nelson, Brant Pinvidic and Josh Greenberg.

About Eyeworks USA

Eyeworks USA (formerly 3 Ball Productions), run by CEOs and executive producers JD Roth and Todd A. Nelson, is one television's most prolific producers of reality and non-fiction programming, both for broadcast and cable, producing shows grounded in the ability of people to make real change and transform their lives. In addition to "Splash," Eyeworks USA produces for ABC the franchise "Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition," which will air its third season in 2013. Roth and Nelson are also known for the award-winning franchise "The Biggest Loser," now in Season 14 on NBC. Other hit series include" Flying Wild Alaska," in Season 3 for Discovery; "Bar Rescue," in Season 3 for Spike; "My Cat from Hell," in Season 4 for Animal Planet; and "LA Hair," in Season 2 for WE TV, with Eyeworks' new series, "Fat Girl Revenge," launching on Oxygen in 2013. Other long-running, genre-creating Eyeworks USA franchises include the worldwide hit "Beauty and the Geek" (which ran for six seasons in the U.S.); the ground-breaking "For Love or Money" (which ran for four seasons on NBC); as well as "Breaking Bonaduce," "The Pick-Up Artist" and "Scott Baio is 45 and Single" (VH1), "Hammer Time" (A&E), "Fourth and Long" (Spike), "Groomer Has It" (Animal Planet) and the series that started the company, "Endurance," which ran for seven seasons on Discovery.

"Splash" is broadcast in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC's selected HDTV format, with 5.1-channel surround sound.

For more information on "Splash," visit ABC.com/Splash