Aidantouchesthestarsbutsays it’stimetogetbacktorealitynow
“EVEN though I had to perform three times on Sunday, I felt good all week. I treated it like an All-Ireland final; I wanted to give it my best, but also enjoy myself — and that’s exactly what I did..”
On his way back to home ground, Kerry football legend and newly crowned ‘Dancing with the Stars’ champion Aidan O’Mahony is sitting out in Adare on a sunny spring day, with his thoughts fixed on a welcome return to normality.
Speaking candidly to The Kerryman, the five-time All-Ireland winner’s pride at what he’s achieved is obvious, his enjoyment of the entire experience equally so, but he’s evidently delighted that a more familiar routine beckons.
“I haven’t kicked a ball with three months, so I’ll have to put that right as soon as possible,” the Garda says with a laugh. “Look, I can’t wait to get back to Denise and our little girl (Lucia) who was only born a few weeks ago. I’m also looking forward to having a normal work routine again. A bit of normality is more than welcome at this stage.
“I enjoyed it, but it was draining at times I have to say, both physically and mentally. I’d head up to Dublin on Thursday evenings, and it was straight into rehearsals for the whole weekend. I’d hardly danced a step in my life before this, and with a new dance to learn every week, there was a lot to take in.”
While Aidan feels he became more accustomed to appearing on television as the series rolled by, he chuckles at the suggestion of an immediate return to our screens.
“I’d obviously been on telly before, but this was different; it was tough enough entering a dancing competition with next to no experience of dancing, but having cameras right up to you made it tougher.
“When RTÉ got on to me first, I just said ‘not a hope,’ I had no interest in doing it. I suppose as time went by though, I looked at it as an opportunity to leap out of my comfort zone, which is what appealed to me.
“But I’m still not totally accustomed to the telly, and now I’m just looking forward to getting back to reality!”
Aidan won the popular vote on Sunday night, but, as is so often the case, not everyone was delighted to see Kerry securing the silverware.
One Twitter user said Aidan was ‘not the winner in my eyes,’ while another said the public vote ‘made a mockery of an otherwise excellent RTÉ series.’ A prominent bookmaker even refunded losing bets on Aoibhin Garrihy and Denise McCormack, as the judges awarded them more points than Aidan and his dance partner Valeria Milova. But Aidan scoffs at the dissenters, rubbishing suggestions he didn’t deserve the ‘glitter-ball trophy.’
“Listen, you can’t please everyone. There were contestants there who had danced plenty times before through stage pperformances, or whatever, so they had an advantage over me from day one.
“The important question to ask is: ‘Did I improve every week?’ The answer to that is ‘absolutely.’ I felt my dances on SSunday were my best ofo the series, and a good few said the same to me backstage.
“I gave it everything and, to be honest, I’m delighted with how much I’ve improved. To pick up the glitter-ball trophy was only a bonus.”