Anna is the odds-on favourite to win DWTS - but your help is vital
MILFORD camogie star Anna Geary is now the 8/11 favourite to win Dancing With the Stars following Erin McGregor’s elimination last Sunday night.
With just three contestants left in the running, Anna remains the favourite but is now odds-on at 8/11 from 5/4 to emerge the victor after her salsa to Rihanna’s ‘Don’t Stop The Music’ earned a maximum score of 30 points from the judges in the penultimate week.
Jake Carter is the second favourite with Boylesports offering 15/8 odds on his chances of winning the glitterball, while Deirdre O’Kane is the outsider of the three remaining contestants at 9/2, despite performing a popular tribute to late Cranberries singer Dolores O’Riordan with a contemporary slant on hit song ‘Zombie.’
Speaking to media ahead of the final, Anna recalled how originally she was nervous about how the public would perceive her body, which she described to Stellar Magazine as “no better or worse than anyone else’s, but it is a very different shape”. However, she was pleasantly surprised by the feedback, mostly from grateful mothers to have a new healthy role model.
“I’ve had lots of parents getting in touch telling me that I’m a positive role model for their daughter, that it’s great to see an athletic physique like mine. ‘Strong is the new skinny’ is a term that’s thrown around and I guess I’m a living embodiment for that.”
Strong she is - Anna has four All-Ireland titles to her name, four All-Stars and three Munster camogie club medals to name but a few.
“I think playing camogie at a high level has definitely stood to me ... I had to remember that, in this case, I’m not meant to be a professional, it’s not meant to be perfect, and the public just want to see you being fearless and trying and improving,” she added.
“The challenge for Kai has been to get me to relax.”
Meanwhile, Anna, a performance coach, is bemused by women’s focus on weight. “The amount of women who have asked me how much weight I’ve lost during the contest is unbelievable but I couldn’t tell you because I don’t weigh myself.”
Anna is now based in Dublin with her boyfriend of three years, Kevin Sexton, and sought his blessing before putting on her dancing shoes because of the additional strain the gruelling rehearsals would put on their relationship. “We had a big chat about it all at the start, because I had to make sure he was comfortable with [Dancing With The Stars] – mostly with the time commitment element, because we’re like ships in the night right now,” she said.
“There have been times when I come home frustrated and he’s there with dinner or a cup of tea and the fire lit, and it just means the world.”
Anna, Jake and Deirdre will perform in the grand finale next Sunday when the winner of the series will be crowned. However, you too have a role to play as public votes could well decide who wins the DWTS Glitterball trophy.
So come on North Cork, time ot give back to Anna for all she’s won for Cork - and Milford.