Dancing with the Stars: Gráinne Seoige and Ellen Keane among first celebrity dancers
Dancing with the Stars presenters Jennifer Zamparelli and Nicky Byrne
The first four celebrity contestants for this year's Dancing with the Stars have been revealed during the Late Late Show and include a Paralympic swimmer and a former Six One presenter.
The new series will begin on RTÉ One in January and the first contestants to be confirmed are Gráinne Seoige, Ellen Keane, Aengus Mac Grianna and Neil Delamere. There will be 12 contestants in total competing.
Presenter Gráinne Seoige, who is living in her home county of Galway, says she is excited to take part.
"I am excited and petrified in equal measure to be joining Dancing with the Stars. I’ve always wanted to learn to dance, and now, I’m getting the chance to learn from the very best in the country. Let’s see how it goes!”
Aengus Mac Grianna was an RTÉ News reporter for more than 30 years and says he is looking forward to getting out of his comfort zone.
"I love a challenge that pushes me way out of my comfort zone. Dancing with the Stars is high-energy showbusiness and is definitely the most physically demanding challenge I have ever undertaken. Given that I don’t dance I am both excited and terrified about the weeks ahead."
Paralympic swimmer Ellen Keane says she hopes to have a good time on the show.
"I am so excited for the show to begin. I am such a competitor, so I’m in it to win it, but I’m really looking forward to having a good time, learning new skills and making new friends! I’m loving this because I get to be dry and have my hair and make-up done and experience all the glamour that comes with Dancing with the Stars. I can’t wait to show people what I can do."
Comedian, Neil Delamere, meanwhile, hopes to discover a hidden dancing talent.
"I'm very excited to be on the show. I'm hoping to discover a hitherto entirely absent talent for dancing. So far, I've only gotten as far as saying 'Flatley, Flatley Flatley' and the great man appears to give you a lesson," he says.
"I currently dance like a full-back shepherding the ball out of play, but hopefully, that changes over the next few weeks. Some of my friends from the comedy scene have been on the show and raved about how much craic it was, so I can't wait.”
Dancing with the Stars will return to screens in January 2022, with 12 new celebrity dancers and presenters Jennifer Zamparelli and Nicky Byrne will also be back Judges Loraine Barry and Brian Redmond will be joined by new judging panel member, dancer and acclaimed choreographer Arthur Gourounlian.
