Johnny: I’ll keep dancing for my sick dad
Love/hate star vows to stay on show
The doctors are looking after him but he is in a really rough state and it’s not getting easier ACTOR JOHNNY WARD ON HIS DAD’S CANCER FIGHT
DANCING With The Stars’ Johnny Ward has admitted he feels guilty spending so much time on the show while his dad fights cancer at home.
Opening up about his father’s diagnosis, the Love/hate actor revealed there have been days where he has felt like throwing in the towel.
He told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “It’s a tough one this week. It’s a big ask, my dad, God love him, he has got stage four cancer and I’ve never really spoken about it before but it is very tough to do that with this on top of it.
“He is back in hospital which is really tough and seeing him in the state he is in.
“He was diagnosed in July and in September he was told he had three months to live and we were building a thing in the extension at the back of the house and we were told pretty much there’s no point, he’s only got three months.
“And then before Christmas, everything seemed so much better – the tumour shrunk but we just got the news there on Tuesday, because he was back in hospital, that he is back to square one again and that’s really tough when you are doing this.
“Some days you just don’t want to go in and you don’t want to rehearse but he is like, ‘Please do it’, and he looks forward to it so much, but God love him, he is not well enough to come in and see the shows.
“Just seeing him this morning, he is up in Tallaght Hospital and they are looking after him really well but he is in a really rough state. It’s tough and it’s not getting any easier.
“You want to be around but for him to turn around and say, ‘Go in and do it for me’, it gives me more inspiration to go into it.”
Looking back at his decision to join the show, Johnny said his dad, his No1 fan, was buzzing for him to do it.
The 31-year-old added: “As soon as this was announced he was on the mend and it was great.
“He does everything, he reads the woman parts and the guy’s parts in any scripts that I do, and the fact he is not around for this one is very difficult but we chat so much.”
But speaking just days after the family received the bad news, Johnny said: “You know sometimes you feel guilty going into rehearsals but then he is the person saying, ‘Please go in, don’t look back with any regret and do it for me’ and that is what I’ve been doing.
“Sometimes you feel like quitting and I’m like, ‘What am I doing? Why am I here?’ but like I say he is only back in hospital since Tuesday so this is just a really tough week.” Ahead of tonight’s show, where the couples will swap partners, Johnny said he is looking forward to his new routine. And despite his tough week at home and negative comments from the judges last time, the former Fair City bad boy revealed a change-up in rehearsals was just what the doctor ordered.
Partnered with Ksenia Zsikhotska this week, the Dubliner, who will quickstep to Are You Gonna Be My girl by Jet, said: “I can’t wait. Ksenia has just put in so much hard work.
“Obviously, there are a few barriers in the beginning but luckily Ksenia is really good friends with Emily as well and we have all had lunch together and she’s a lovely girl and I was very excited to get her.
“She’s ticked all the boxes, she’s not as intense as Emily and she’s not as strict as Emily and, if I’m honest, it’s been a bit, not a break but definitely a lot less intense.”
The switch will also see the new partnerships of Clelia Murphy and John
Nolan, Cliona O’hagan and Vitali Kozmin and Mairead Ronan and Kai Widdrington.
Hitting the halfway point of the hugely-popular RTE season and maintaining his status as bookies’ favourite, Johnny said he has made friends for life in his co-stars.
He added: “We are all very supportive of each other but don’t get me wrong there are one or two people who are quite competitive and you can see that but I don’t think there is any need to be competitive in this competition, it’s out of our hands.
“All you can do is go out and try and do your best, remember all your steps and fingers crossed the judges like you, which they don’t with me.
“They don’t like tricks, they just want me to keep it simple and traditional and we did that with the Viennese waltz and they loved it.”
Judges want me to keep it simple and we did that with the waltz... and they loved it
JOHNNY WARD ON HOW HE AND HIS PARTNER ARE TRYING TO IMPRESS