IN A drama-packed finale, Australian Ninja Warrior contestant Fred Dorrington faced a near-disqualification as judges debated whether his foot touched the water in stage one of the brutal grand final course.

In a cruel twist of fate, a foot in the water is what disqualified the 27-year-old carpenter from the grand final of the UK version of the show, where he placed third.

The Lismore local attacked stage one with full force. But as he came off the big dipper, he almost failed to grasp the rope and swung into the platform — dangling over the pool of water below.

“Ooh! His foot nearly hit the water,” the show’s anchor Rebecca Maddern said. But her co-host Ben Fordham was certain Dorrington’s foot dipped in — meaning instant disqualification.

“Did it touch the water? I saw some water movement,” Fordham said.

Commentator Freddie Flintoff, positioned on the sidelines, disagreed: “He didn’t touch it,” he said.

Viewers at home sided with Flintoff.

I reckon the mat splashed the water, not his foot. Unlucky. #NinjaWarriorAU — Hurleys Taxi Driver (@Hurleystaxi) July 25, 2017

Look! Not touching the water but still moving? It was the mat he slammed into. Like T-Rex and this glass of water. #NinjaWarriorAU pic.twitter.com/QAp2zNO0Im — Apolo (@PK_APOSTOLI) July 25, 2017

I love how the judges took Ben Fordham's version from 50m away over Freddie Flintoff's 1m away version 🙄 #NinjaWarriorAU — Life Bugs Me (@lifebugsme) July 25, 2017

I call bullshit, looks like the mat made the water ripple and the delayed disqualification was for dramatic effect #NinjaWarriorAU — Daryl (@xwickedmindx) July 25, 2017

As Dorrington powered on, leaping onto the rope hang, the lights flashed red and the sirens whirled. It seemed the serial-Ninja Warrior was reliving his failure from the UK grand final and had been disqualified.

“He is disqualified! It looks like his foot went in the water on the big dipper,” Maddern confirmed.

But confusion remained.

The footage was replayed, red circles were drawn around various body parts and sections of the water, and the decision was reviewed.

“After reviewing the replay, we can see the splash of water was caused by the safety mat, not Fred’s foot. So, in accordance to international rules. Fred will start again from where we left off.”

Some viewers took issue with the fact Dorrington was able to regain some strength during the break before continuing. And others found humour in the rather important sounding “international rules” of the game.

Mmm a restart after a break allows him to rest and almost gains an advantage #NinjaWarriorAU — Catherine Redman (@AngelC86) July 25, 2017

Dorrington recovered from the disqualification scare to complete stage one with more than 20 seconds to spare.

He moved through to stage two — where contestants had to complete the course in 65 seconds.

He powered through the beginning obstacles, but lingered too long on the unstable bridge. He was left hanging as the siren sounded and he ran out of time.

“It was pretty intense. Didn’t get as far as I’d have liked. But I’m stoked,” he said as he exited the competition.