'I'm really happy': Kevin Dundon on Dancing with the Stars journey so far
Kevin Dundon: “Rebecca, my dance partner, she's amazing and Rebecca gives me the recipe at the start of the week, and I have to digest it and cook it up by Sunday." Picture: Kyran O’Brien/kobpix.
Dancing with the Stars contestant Kevin Dundon has reflected on an enjoyable start to his dancing journey and looks forward to the weeks of performing to come, hoping to make his family, dance partner, and those watching at home proud.
The celebrity chef and owner of Dunbrody Country House Hotel in Wexford earned 17 points for his smooth American with dance partner Rebecca Scott on last Sunday's show.
Speaking to the media this week, Dundon spoke about the public’s reaction to his first performance on the show, how he has been settling into his training routine and what he does to chill out after rehearsals.
Speaking about how it feels to have one performance under his belt, he said he was "really happy" with his performance.
“Once you get the first dance out of the way, it kind of gets you into a bit of a routine. Now we’re back in a natural loop of how to show will work.
“It's tough. The first two days, you kind of have to learn the routine roughly and then try and get it with the music and now, it's polishing it all the way through to Sunday.”
Comparing cooking up a recipe to delivering a dance performance in front of a live audience, Dundon said: “Rebecca, my dance partner, she's amazing and Rebecca gives me the recipe at the start of the week, and I have to digest it and cook it up by Sunday.
“But if I was a dancer and I was given a dance on Monday, I'd be able to dance that dance on Monday, but because I'm a chef, it takes me seven days to get it right, and vice versa.”
Speaking about his competition on the show, he said that everyone has something to offer and acknowledged that while he might not be able to move his hips quite like Olympian Rhys McClenaghan anymore, he has “one or two moves and lots of smiles” to entertain the viewers at home.
Talking about tackling the nerves pre-show, he said that on opening night last Sunday, contestant and singer-songwriter Mickey Joe Harte took out his guitar for a sing-song before the show.
“It was absolutely brilliant because it just kind of chilled and relaxed us all,” he said.
“Once the show goes live and everybody's there and everybody's cheering you on, and once you have the live audience there, it is great fun. And I love people, I love an audience and entertaining people so I think that's kind of one of my strengths.”
A pro at handling the stress in the kitchen, Dundon spoke about how he handles the stress of the dance studio and how he unwinds after intense rehearsals.
“It’s a completely different type of stress,” he said.
“I think it's more constraining because you think you have a routine in your head and you'd be amazed at the amount of steps that you have to remember over 90 seconds.
“It's intense, and you get through about half the routine, and if you take one step out, it's very hard to get back into the routine. So that's probably the most stressful.
“They say to you that you need to get your steps down 100% without even thinking about it, so then it's just the performance and your feet are just doing it anyway.
“It kind of reminds me of playing polocrosse a couple of times down in Wexford. I was always able to ride a horse so when I was riding the horse, the horse was never an issue. I was never thinking about the horse, all I was thinking about was getting the ball in the net.
"So it's about, drilling, drilling, drilling your feet and getting the moves down and once you have that down, the rest will happen.”
He said that after rehearsals he likes to take part in reform pilates as a way to stretch and chill out, as well as cooking dinner and heading to his local for a cheeky pint.
“Normally I’ll go and cook dinner, and then I might walk up the road for a pint in McKenna’s in Dun Laoghaire but I’ll only have one, and then come back again.
“I have a bath every single night. The first couple weeks, I just lived on the paracetamol and baths and epsom salts but it's not so bad anymore. I’m not taking the paracetamol anymore, just the baths.”
Dundon also spoke about how he juggles his other commitments and said he plans to continue appearing on the Today Show where he will cook up a storm two to three times a month, as well as spending time at Dunbrody House which he described as being very important to him.
He said that the feedback he has been receiving has been very positive and said that he really enjoyed his performance on last week’s show.
“When I look back on the performance, Rebecca and myself just looked so happy on the dance floor. I absolutely loved it,” he said.
He spoke about being approached this week on the Luas by three avid fans of the show who proceeded to tell him the full low-down on how he did, what he needed to do, and how he would improve.
“They were loving it,” he said.
Speaking about his family’s reaction to him being on the show, Dundon said that his wife Catherine, daughters Emily and Sophie and son Tom have been extremely supportive.
“I've never seen the family as excited about any project that I've done than Dancing with the Stars. It's just a good feel factor,” he said.
His daughter Sophie, who was home for Christmas and has since returned to study in Berlin, attended the show last Sunday and his daughter Emily who also lives in Berlin had a Dancing with the Stars party with her friends.
“I asked the question to my family when I was asked to do the show, would they be okay if I did it - because Tom is 17 - and they said go for it,” he said.
He described Catherine as the rock in their relationship and in their family and said he thinks about her all the time during the show.
“She's an amazing woman,” he said.
“We're doing the samba this week and the song is from Gypsy Kings, and that was probably the first song that was played in our restaurant in Dunbrody House and Catherine made the playlist… so I’ll definitely be thinking of Catherine.”
He said that his whole family thought he did great last Sunday, saying: “Obviously I could be better, but that's what this shows about.
“When you look back on it and see what you’ve done, you know you can do better and that's what it's about. It’s a bit of a journey.
“The samba is really tough to do but I’m hoping my scores will be a little better than last week.”
Dancing with the Stars returns to RTÉ One at 6.30pm this Sunday.
