Dancing With The Stars pulls Strings

IRISH rugby hero Peter Stringer will aim to add the Glitterball to his bulging trophy cabinet when he joins the Dancing With The Stars line-up.

The Irish Daily Mail can reveal the 40-year-old Munster legend will swap his shoulder pads and gum shields for fake tan and sequins next month.

Fresh from his stint as an analyst on Virgin Media’s rugby coverage, the scrum half will switch stations and join the hit RTÉ show.

Stringer follows in the footsteps of fellow Munster and Ireland rugby legend Tomás O’Leary, who was in last year’s cast. However, he hopes to do better than his old team-mate, who was the second contestant eliminated last year.

A source revealed: ‘Peter has been in contact with the producers for years and he just felt the time was right for him. He doesn’t drink and is an incredibly fit person but this is a whole different ball game. He’s never shied away from a challenge before and you can be sure he will give it his all.’

Stringer, pictured right, is not the only sports star taking part – as former Dublin footballer Denis Bastick was confirmed yesterday.

And on Wednesday, Fair City favourite Clelia Murphy, 43, was also revealed as one of the hopefuls. She will join model Holly Carpenter, comedian Fred Cooke, actress Eilish O’Carroll, and TV hosts Darren Kennedy and Mairéad Ronan on the dance floor in January.

However, it has emerged RTÉ presenter John Creedon will not now appear in the show after plans to include him in the lineup fell through. Separately, a well-placed source told the Mail that former Love/Hate actor Johnny Ward is also set to take part. The source said: ‘Johnny is one of our best loved actors. He has done everything from Love/ Hate to the Gaiety panto... We think they [those named as being on DWTS] will make amazing additions to the line-up.’ An RTÉ spokesperson declined to comment on the line-up. GAA legend Bastick, 37, yesterday said he believed the show would represent a ‘massive challenge’. He told 2fm’s Nicky Byrne: ‘I always wanted to try new things. I never imagined that this would be one of those things, though!’

The father of two ‘replaced another contestant’, according to Larry Bass of ShinAwil, the production firm behind DWTS. There has been speculation elsewhere suggesting Bastick stepped in for Irish soccer legend Stephen Hunt, who may have broken his foot.