Marty Party draws to a close as RTÉ star finally shown ‘DWTS’ red card
AS THE saying goes, all good things must come to an end. The ‘Marty Party’ finally drew to an emotional close last night after the RTÉ sports commentator was shown the red card on ‘Dancing with the Stars’.
After surviving for eight long weeks on the dancing competition, despite his dodgy ‘dad dancing’, the whistle finally blew on the nation’s favourite as he became the fifth celebrity to be booted off the show.
Despite putting his best efforts into a romantic rumba to the Chris de Burgh classic ‘Lady in Red’, earning him 16 points from the judges, he ended up in the dance-off with model Alannah Beirne. She had gotten 26 points for her flawless quick-step to the ‘Friends’ anthem, ‘I’ll be there for you’.
As proof of his popularity, he got a standing ovation from the audience after his swan-song but was given the boot by judges.
The RTÉ presenter said that going up against his fellow celebs every week was like “playing the Dubs in an All-Ireland final and you’re one of the Junior B teams from anywhere else”.
He said he was “exhausted” from all the Marty Parties but relished the whole experience. “The people of Ireland kept me in for longer than I probably deserved, let’s be honest,” he said.
He added how he had “mixed emotions” about leaving but told the Irish Independent making it to eight of the 12 shows was far better than he had hoped for.
He said he was going to drown his sorrows by helping friend Rob Heffernan mark his 40th birthday party, which he helped organise.
The usually tee-total commentator was even going to treat himself to a drink or two at the party venue, the MV Cill Airne boat docked in Dublin’s city centre.
Beirne was “devastated” to see him go and said she was going to be the “most hated woman in Ireland” for surviving the dance-off.
Guilty Pleasures was the theme of last night’s ‘DWTS’, which seemed apt given that the Sunday night show has become the viewing public’s own secret shame.
Erin McGregor got the show off to a strong start as she and partner Ryan McShane performed a flawless cha-cha to the tune of ‘Raining Men’.
McShane described her as a “fighter” after coming back strong following last week’s dance-off disappointment, with McGregor scoring 25
points from the judges.
Heffernan indulged his inner rapper and showed his cool under pressure with a cha-cha to ‘Ice Ice Baby’ by Vanilla Ice, getting 18 points.
Last week’s poll-topper Anna Geary danced an American smooth to ‘Achy Breaky Heart’ but got a luke-warm reception for her efforts, pulling in 22 points.
Deirdre O’Kane took on the paso doble to ‘Tragedy’ by Steps and performed admirably. “This was no tragedy, this was a triumph,” said judge Julian Benson, with O’Kane scoring 24.
Jake Carter danced an emotional and flawless Viennese waltz to Liverpool anthem ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’. The singer honoured the victims of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster by emblazoning the number ‘96’ on the back of his waistcoat.
Hailed as the best routine of the remaining celebrities, he deservedly got the highest score of the night with 28 points.