Am I being critiqued really hard? Maybe?
DWTS contestant David reveals low score frustration
DANCING With The Stars contestant David Whelan has admitted to being frustrated at not getting perfect scores on the show.
The competition, which promises to be a spine-chilling affair with its first Fright Night theme will see the singer partnered with Salome Chachua as they dance to Olly Murs’ Wrapped Up for the semi-finals. Despite receiving high praise and commendations from the judges, the Dubliner has yet to achieve the coveted perfect score.
The Wild Youth star, 29, confessed: “Of course I am [frustrated].
“It’s crazy because I keep getting great compliments... but I still haven’t got the perfect score.
“Arthur [Gourounlian] has said things like dance is in my DNA and one week he even said I basically come out and give a near perfect performance week in week out and I still haven’t got the perfect score.
“I’m working so hard that I can’t explain it. I’m killing myself Monday to Friday rehearsals, pushing myself so hard the routines I’m doing by far the most extreme hardest ones.
“They’re very hard to get right and I’m giving it my all. I don’t know, am I being critiqued really hard? Maybe?”
Despite his frustration, he remains grounded, acknowledging his lack of formal training in ballroom dancing.
When asked about his experience in dance, as his father has a history in ballroom, he said: “I don’t have any experience with ballroom, so it makes no sense to me.
“I did stage school when I was a kid and that’s just little jazz hands, there wasn’t anything to what I’m doing now, in any way, shape, or form. Maybe that’s it, I don’t know, throughout this whole competition I found myself trying to not fixate on the scores.”
The singer has maintained a focused mindset, prioritising the dance itself:
He added: “In a way they do me a favour because it makes me work harder.”
David had a bad accident last year where he fell and landed on his neck and broke his collar bone. He said: “You can just get fed up, and I felt I was a bit last year with all the stuff that happened to me.
“There was an accumulation of a lot of things that I just thought I don’t know if this is worth it anymore, I don’t know if I want to do it.
“And this show came along. This show has literally saved me from that now. I feel like I got that spark again, I feel like I got that glow in me, the love for it, I found a different love. “I found a love in a different art form. And that’s after making me now fall back in love with my original art form.”
I found myself trying to not fixate on the scores
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