My daughters will be fighting over the DWTS glitterball... if I win it, that is!
PARALYMPIC champion Jason Smyth said his two young daughters will be fighting over the glitterball if he is lucky enough to take home the trophy on this weekend’s Dancing With The Stars final.
Smyth will be battling it out against Wild Youth singer David Whelan and drag queen Blu Hydrangea on Sunday night, and said he is focused on getting his dances right and ‘finishing on a high’.
He said his daughters Evie, aged eight, and Lottie, five, had enjoyed seeing their dad on the show – but now had their eyes firmly fixed on the prize.
‘The only thing they want is the glitterball so they can fight over who’s getting it,’ he laughed.
‘They just love it and want us to do the best we can and enjoy it, and try to win that glitterball.
‘If we happen to win it will not be given to me. It will be back and forth between their two rooms,’ he said.
The sprinter, who was diagnosed with Stargardt disease at the age of eight, leaving him with less than 10% of his vision, earned the title of ‘Fastest Paralympian on the Planet’ after a glittering track career in which he collected 21 gold medals.
Speaking on a brief break from rehearsals this week, he recalled how he had met his wife Elise while training in America.
‘You just need the right attitude’
His uncle made the introduction, he said, and the pair carried on a long-distance relationship across the States for several years.
They got married in 2012 while Jason was training in Florida, then moved to London.
After their first child Evie was born in 2015, the family decided to get head home to Ireland.
He said Elise will be in the audience during the live final, while the children will be watching it all on television.
‘They have absolutely loved it and are very much looking forward to it, but at the same time they are looking forward to me coming home at the end of it,’ Jason said.
Asked if it was difficult to find love with someone who would understand his disability, he replied: ‘I think for me, to be honest, my biggest hurdle was probably more my sport. I was so focused on being the best I could be as an athlete that I found everything else a bit of a distraction.
‘For me, actually, with Elise, how it worked was it just worked. It wasn’t forced. It just fell into place and naturally developed.
‘I don’t think the visual impairment had any impact… but a bit like being on this show, not being able to see, I don’t see it as a reason to stop or hold you back… You just need the right attitude to figure it out.’
He said the main message he wanted to get across through his involvement with DWTS was ‘showing what’s possible, not impossible’. He went on: ‘It’s about what you can do, not what you can’t. It’s not about disability but about ability. I hope that I am able to show that, and that others can see that and think if he can do it, why can’t I?’
Jason’s first dance of the evening, with his professional dancer Karen Byrne, has been chosen by the judges. The couple will return to their Samba from week seven, dancing to Rhythm Divine by Enrique Iglesias.
In their show dance, the pair hope to deliver a powerful performance to Go The Distance by Michael Bolton.
The Dancing With The Stars final can be seen on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player this Sunday, March 17, at 7pm.
‘If he can do it, why can’t I?’