A knockout! Erin McGregor lights up DWTS
IT was ladies’ night on RTÉ’s Dancing With The Stars and Erin McGregor proved she was up for the fight by topping the leaderboard.
The fitness model sister of MMA star Conor blew the crowd away with her fiery moves, including a series of daring lifts, which saw her soar ahead of the competition on the show’s second week.
Erin, 34, scored 23 points after dancing a salsa to Demi Lovato’s Instruction with partner Ryan McShane. The new mother told host Amanda Byram she’d struggled with nerves in the runup to her performance, admitting: ‘Ever since I had the baby I was so afraid to get out there, there were so many times I wanted to walk away.’
But the judges loved her performance, with Loraine Barry branding Erin and Ryan ‘a winning combination’, while Darren Bennett said: ‘The McGregor family’s got some talent; you guys are going to set this competition on fire.’
Four-time All-Ireland camogie titlewinner Anna Geary also scored highly with her tango to Rebel Rebel with partner Kai Widdrington. The Cork GAA star hit the dancefloor brandishing a red hurl and scored 21 points from the judges, with Darren telling her: ‘You have the attitude of a competitor, even a champion.’ Britain’s Next Top Model finalist Alannah Beirne, who joined the show when former Miss Ireland Aoife Walsh was forced out through injury, also wowed with her romantic waltz to Moon River with partner Vitali Milova, scoring 20 points. Brian Redmond, usually the hardest judge to please, said: ‘It was a classic waltz from start to finish and I think that should be a lesson for the rest of them.’ Deirdre O’Kane and John Nolan scored a very respectable 18 for their jive to Mayhem, and comedian Deirdre told host Nicky Byrne the dance was completely responsible for her half-astone weight loss. She said: ‘I think we could solve the obesity crisis in this country; we need to get back to the crossroads and start jiving and we’d be grand.’ Dragons’ Den star Norah Casey scored 15 points for her foxtrot with Curtis Pritchard. The business mogul, who recently went through knee surgery, said it had been a ‘rough year’, and partner Curtis told Nicky: ‘She’s had a hard time, so to see her smile in rehearsals makes me think I’ve won already.’ Presenter Maia Dunphy scored the lowest, picking up just 13 points for her cha-chacha with Robert Rowinski – but judge Darren commiserated, saying: ‘It was a very challenging routine for week one.’ With the men returning next week, we’ll also see the first competitor voted off.
‘I was so afraid to get out there’