I’m 10lb lighter and the tan doesn’t come from a can
MARTY MORRISSEY IS READY TO RUMBA
Ayear on from his triumphant win on Dancing With The Stars, one might think that Aidan O’Mahony had a much more relaxed Christmas this year. The pressure to squeeze into tight pants and revealing tops wasn’t looming over the celebrations, meaning that in theory he should have been able to enjoy all the calorie-laden trappings of the festive season. In reality however, Aidan is a fitness nut yearround, so the mince pies were still on hold. ‘Would you believe I had a quieter Christmas than last year?’ he says. ‘I train twice a day myself anyway. The only difference was I wasn’t going to and from Liffey Studios (for dance training). And of course, we were three instead of two.’
Famously, Aidan became a first-time father to Lucia during his Dancing With The Stars experience. It meant spending two nights away from Lucia and his wife Denise right after the birth. In the final weeks of the series, Aidan drove home to Tralee after taping Sunday’s live show.
‘I was two days into learning the cha-cha-cha, went home to Kerry on the Wednesday, went to Cork on Thursday morning, the baby was born on the Thursday and I left for the show on Saturday. That was the toughest moment,’ he reflects. ‘I don’t think my wife ever saw me crying as much. But there’s a GAA mentality there: “Right, cop on to yourself, you’ve a show to do here”.’
As 11 new celebrities make their Dancing With The Stars debut tonight, Aidan joined them for one final spin as reigning champion on the Ardmore Studios dancefloor. He knows full well how the newbies are feeling with the 12-week journey stretched out ahead of them: ‘Ah you’re a ball of nerves,’ he recalls. ‘Your expectations go out the window because, for the first couple of weeks at least, there’s no elimination. But you are going out into the unknown. You see the backdrop in Ardmore studios for the first time and you just have to tell yourself, “Let yourself go”. You are way out of your comfort zone. If you’re not nervous, you’re doing something wrong.’
Like him, many of this season’s contenders will also have to get used to the ongoing presence of cameras for the first time.
‘There’s that whole side of it – it’s not just dancing,’ he says. ‘If you can act and be comfortable in front of the cameras, that’s a positive thing. I’d been in a bubble in GAA and hadn’t come across the media too much, but there’s no real escape from it on Dancing With The Stars.’ During his run on the show, O’Mahony was often referred to as the show’s dark horse by judge Julian Benson. And it’s certainly easy to see why he galloped to victory. Aidan was a man whose back-story had clearly enthralled RTÉ viewers: a hard-working GAA player, new dad and garda, he was exactly the sort of good-natured, unassuming contestant that people would gladly pick up the phone for. ‘I think I did a bad dance in week six, and I took the negative feedback on
board. It’s the football side of it – you play a bad game, you just go off and train harder,’ Aidan explains. ‘By the time week nine came along and Lucia was here, my whole demeanour had relaxed.’ Has he kept in touch with any of his fellow contestants? ‘It’s like in the GAA, you spend nine months with 30 fellas, and then you lose contact for four or five months,’ he laughs. ‘I would see Des [Cahill] a lot through the sport, and Dayl [Cronin] is in school in Cork, so I’d keep in touch with the lads every week or so and have the giggles.
‘The two girls (Aoibhinn Garrihy and Denise McCormack) are fantastic – I texted Denise to congratulate her after she appeared in EastEnd- ers last week.’
In some ways, life has remained unchanged since Aidan walked away with the glitterball trophy in an action packed finale. He still works as a full-time guard in Tralee, is still very much involved in GAA, and is still working away on a strength training/ conditioning degree with a view to opening a website with his cousin in February or March.
‘Now all anyone ever wants to talk to me about is dancing,’ he laughs. ‘For 14 years, it was nothing but GAA. If you’re in football in Kerry, GAA is all you’ll talk about. I’ve had that for 14 years of my life, and now after 15 weeks of dancing it’s all changed.’
Even on the beat, his appearance on the hit show hasn’t gone unnoticed. ‘It was funny walking down the street and people saying, “How’s the ballerina?” but that’s all part and parcel of it.’
Aidan reckons that bookies early favourite Marty Morrissey will certainly be one to watch this year.
‘He’s from Clare, where they have a lot of great music traditions. That said, you need to watch the first couple of weeks to really get a feel for who might make the final. No one comes in on week one and blows it all away.
‘To the new crew, I just say enjoy it. There will be no two weeks where you will get three tens (perfect
‘It’s the football side of it – you just go off and train harder’ ‘You need to watch the first few weeks to get a feel for who’ll make it’
scores). There will be weeks where you’ll find it tough. Just come back on the following Thursday and pick up where you left off.
I found that coming back home to Kerry was very useful. If you’re in Dublin the whole time, you just get consumed by it. Lastly, just be yourself. The great thing is that the Irish public love it, and once they see you being yourself, they’ll back you all the way.’ Dancing With The Stars is on Sundays at 6.30pm on RTÉ One