Abs fab Jake’s very sexy fan mail
Nathan’s kid brother puffs his chest out to leave DWTS fans swooning
HEARTTHROB Jake Carter is feeling the love ahead of Valentine’s Day as he has been submerged with gifts – including knickers in the post – from adoring fans.
The popularity of the Dancing With The Stars competitor, who topped the leaderboard last week, is certainly on the rise but while Jake spends up to 10 hours a day in gruelling rehearsals, it’s his manager who deals with the tsunami of fan mail.
‘I have been flooded with letters and messages and different presents – chocolates, knickers even, it’s mental,’ Jake told the Irish Mail on Sunday this week, after receiving a standing ovation last Sunday.
‘They normally get posted to my manager and he says he’ll have to take his number off the website because of all the calls he’s getting.
‘Some of the letters are emotional ones from people wanting to go on dates and be my Valentine,
They write ‘wanting me to go to their Debs’
and asking me to go to their Debs and formals.’
Alas, his hectic schedule is curbing any romantic endeavours for now, and he admits he will most likely spend February 14 with fellow dancer and athlete Rob Heffernan, with whom he’s sharing an apartment in Dublin’s city centre during the production of the show.
‘It’s great because we’re both going through the same thing, so we can talk to each other about what we’re going through,’ he says in his soft Liverpudlian lilt.
But at 19, Jake hasn’t entirely given up on the prospect of romance on Valentine’s Day.
‘I’m still single and ready to mingle,’ he told the MoS. ‘I am looking for a Valentine. I could always kick Rob out for the night.’
The singer is reluctant to reveal who inspired his new single, Fallin’ For You, saying: ‘I can’t give it away. If I give that away it takes from the meaning behind the song. I’ll say nothing.’
And he insisted that while rumours abound of the sizzling chemistry between him and his dance partner Karen Byrne, they are just friends.
‘There’s no romance yet anyway, that’s all I can say,’ he says.
‘Ah, to be fair, we’re just good friends. We get on like a house on fire. She’s definitely a friend for life now. We clicked as soon as we met, which is great because we spend so much time together, and it’s great to have a laugh with someone and be able to talk about anything.’
With all his gyrating, he has lost more than six pounds in weight and, like Marty Morrissey, he insists ‘my tan is all natural, though people don’t believe me’.
Having to shave his chest for the raunchy numbers ‘is a bit strange; that takes a bit of getting used to’.
While he is trying to move out from the shadow of his elder brother Nathan, and carve his own niche away from the Wagon Wheel crooner, Jake recognises that he’s seen as ‘the cheeky chap’ with a ‘fun and happy persona.’
‘Obviously I’m known a lot for just being Nathan’s brother, so it’s great to see people are beginning to realise who I am and what I actually do. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I love my brother and love what he does, but I have my own music career and a completely different genre of music. The new single has got great traction… and I’m sure some of that is down to Dancing With The Stars.’ But he’s a bit deeper and more mature than he may let on – something that even took himself by surprise on last week’s show as he and Karen took on a contemporary ballroom routine. ‘It sounds quite corny, but it was quite emotional on the night. It’s a very deep song. It’s a moment I’ll definitely cherish for my life, especially the standing ovation at the end. It wasn’t expected because it was such a slow dance. But the whole place just erupted which was kind of surreal.’ To get into character for the dance, Karen asked him to reflect on certain parts in his life which didn’t have a happy outcome, and his thoughts turned to ‘relationships in the past that didn’t end great, or the way I wanted them to’.
‘My heart was beating very fast at the end, and I would have loved to have taken a second at the end to
‘A moment I’ll definitely cherish for my life’
breathe and take it in before getting up off the floor.’
The judges and the audience were equally floored by the performance, but can Jake top it in the crucial weeks ahead? ‘It’ll be a tough one to top but, touch wood, we can.’
With the elimination of Maia Dunphy last week, there has been some criticism that the certain personalities are being favoured.
‘At the end of the day, it is a dancing show but it’s also an entertainment show,’ says Jake. ‘People like
to see people’s journeys on the show. It’s not that it’s a popularity contest at all. It is a mixture of everything and that’s what makes great telly.’
Despite his tender years, Jake wants to run his own race. Competition doesn’t come into it at this point, and as one of the bookies’ favourites, alongside Erin McGregor, he needn’t worry for now.
‘I’m loving life at the minute. I didn’t think I’d enjoy dancing as much as I have done. It’s so different to the music industry, but I’m enjoying it as much, if not more.
‘At the minute I’m just focusing on my own dance… I take it week by week and try to do myself proud. And I don’t want to let Karen down, because she puts in so much work with all the choreography.
‘Everyone on the show is thankful to have been given the opportunity to do this and no one wants to go home. It is very emotional when someone does go, and no one wants it to be them. I just want to stay in for as long as possible.’ Dancing With The Stars continues tonight at 6.30pm on RTÉ One