Delamere to join Dancing with the Stars
Edenderry native Neil Delamere was one of the first four celebrity contestants for the new series of Dancing with the Stars, announced on Friday's Late Late Show.
Host Ryan Tubridy spoke with Delamere, Gráinne Seoige, Aengus Mac Grianna and Ellen Keane who will be among the 12 celebrity contestants who will take to the floor for the hit series.
Delamere is one of the most well-known comedians in the country. Starting out his career at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival, Neil has had a lengthy career on Irish television appearing on RTÉ comedy shows like The Panel, Just for Laughs, and Republic of Telly as well as the BBC panel show, The Blame Game. He has also dipped his toe into factual entertainment shows, fronting documentaries including The Only Viking in the Village and There’s Something about Patrick.
Neil says: “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. 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.”
The hit Sunday night TV series Dancing with the Stars will return to screens in January 2022, with 12 new celebrity dancers hoping to make it all the way to the final.
The hugely popular Sunday evening entertainment series, which sees familiar faces from the world of entertainment team up with a professional dancer to perform a live routine each week, is produced by ShinAwiL for RTÉ, and is set to run from January to March, providing some much-welcome glamour and truckloads of sparkles to kick off Sunday evening viewing in the New Year.
Aspirational dancers from the showbiz world will be teamed with professional dancers in a bid to impress the judges and viewers at home with their routines. All will be hoping to progress to the final and get their hands on the coveted Dancing with the Stars glitterball trophy.
Presenters Jennifer Zamparelli and Nicky Byrne will be back at the helm of the series in 2022. Judges Loraine Barry and Brian Redmond will also return to Dancing with the Stars, and in January will be joined by new judging panel member - dancer and acclaimed choreographer - Arthur Gourounlian. All three judges will be ready to give their informed, upfront, and sometimes tough-talking reviews and scores from each of the live performances to the contestants. Among the other changes for the upcoming series are that 12 brand-new celebrities will now take part in the show (previously there were 11), and the series will get straight down to business, with celebrities and their partners being voted off from week 2 of the 12-week run of shows.