Nina f inds a new love – for life!
Former jockey gets a kick out of going on stage as it reminds her of the buzz before a big race
‘It’s nice to have that feeling back again’
NINA CARBERRY has revealed Dancing With The Stars has given her the adrenaline hit she has been craving since hanging up her riding boots two years ago.
The retired jockey, who will dance a Viennese Waltz in tonight’s final, said the pre-show nerves she’s experienced before taking to the dancefloor ‘reminded’ her of the buzz before a big race.
Nina told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘I get a big kick out of going on stage, and the adrenaline rush that I get is very similar to before a race. And it’s probably what I needed to get into my life again, because I was missing it for so long – for about two years since I retired. So it’s nice to have that feeling back again.’
But the Meath woman couldn’t decide whether she’d prefer to win the Glitterball tonight or the Gold Cup like Rachael Blackmore, who raced into the history books when she became the first female rider to win it at Cheltenham last week.
‘Oh, Janey Mac!’ she said. ‘That’s too hard, that one. I really would love to win the Glitterball, but just being a part of the whole show has been a great journey for me.’
Nina was full of praise for ‘good friend’ Blackmore, and said the younger jockey would ‘often give me the odd text’ in support since Dancing With The Stars began.
Tipperary woman Blackmore’s stunning Gold Cup victory matched her feat of becoming the first female to win the Grand National last year.
‘She’s amazing,’ Nina said of her friend. ‘She’s some role model for our industry. She’s an absolutely incredible woman. She’s just getting better and better every year, so I’m absolutely delighted to see her doing well.’
The finalists who will compete against Nina in tomorrow’s show are Olympic swimming gold medallist Ellen Keane, singer Erica Cody and rugby sevens star Jordan Conroy.
The former jockey said the whole horseracing industry has been ‘so supportive’ of her endeavours on the show.
‘I’m getting a great response from everybody and I think everybody has been tuning in to watch it.’
The mother-of-two said she ‘can’t imagine how far I’ve come’ since the series began.
‘I watched my first dance back this morning and I was so embarrassed. I swear to god, I walked on to the stage and I couldn’t even move.’
Her dance partner Pasquale La Rocca agrees her progress has been very impressive.
‘When she walked in, of course I saw this strong, determined lady who wanted to do so well,’ he told the MoS. ‘But of course Nina has never trained dancing before, so it was a big challenge.’
The Italian professional dancer said it was ‘baby steps’ in the beginning, but he was soon able to introduce more complex choreography.
‘The improvement and the progression is so evident and obvious from what she’s done week to week. She’s done very difficult lifts. She had to cope with a lot of change of speed and slow musicality aspects of the music and the dances.’
La Rocca is gunning for his third DWTS title in a row tonight; before winning with Lottie Ryan last year he also came first on the Belgian version of the show in 2019. He said: ‘In the back of my mind there is that hope that it could happen. It could be a dream really.’
Meanwhile, Nina’s fellow finalist Jordan Conroy says he was ‘too wrecked’ for a love life after rumours of a behind-the-scenes romance on DWTS were confirmed this week.
Former Love Island contestant Matthew MacNabb and dance partner Laura Nolan revealed that they are an item, and Conroy said he was ‘delighted for them’ – but ruled himself out of any love match for now, saying: ‘To be honest, I don’t even have the energy to be dating right now.
‘Genuinely, I’m very single. Between the rugby and the dancing, it’s literally taken over my whole life.
‘As a man, I’m very bad at multitasking. I can barely do the dancing and the rugby. Once this is over I’m just going back to the rugby. The love life can wait, because I’m just too wrecked.’
His dance partner Salome Chachua said she is ‘so proud’ of the Ireland sevens winger.
‘I was sure he would be good because he’s a sportsman – his mentality is so good, and he’s very hard working.
‘But after three weeks I found out he is a really good dancer.
‘It’s amazing that we are in the final and would be great if we win the Glitterball.’