DANCING With The Stars judge Brian Redmond says it’s going to be so tough to find a winner this season.
The five celebrities left in the competition are neck-and-neck, making next week’s semi-final all the more nail-biting.
With just two more shows left, Redmond admits there isn’t much between front-runners, Olympians Jack Woolley and Rhys McClenaghan, social media star Kayleigh Trappe, Mrs Brown’s Boys star Danny O’Carroll, and former Miss Universe Ireland Aishah Akorede.
Brian told The Irish Sun: “I don’t remember a semi-final where we have five couples all having scored tens, or who are capable of getting tens.
“So the scramble to be in the final four is going to be very interesting.”
While Olympic gold gymnast Rhys McClenaghan and his pro Laura Nolan ended Sunday at the top of the scoreboard, the couple have yet to land a ten from Brian.
But fellow judges Loraine Barry, Arthur Gourounlian and Karen Byrne consistently give them top marks, including last Sunday night for an American Smooth which saw them cartwheeling across the stage to Nathan Carter’s Wagon Wheel.
Speaking about McClenaghan’s wait for a ten from him, Brian said: “That depends on Rhys, when he gets a ten off me.
“For me, when it comes to giving tens, it has to be completely unspoiled and untarnished for the whole minute-and-a-half of dancing.
“If there’s anything which I feel is bad, like a moment last Sunday where Rhys and Laura stumbled, that’s not a ten in my opinion.”
The judge, once dubbed the biggest b*ks in Ireland for his withering appraisals, warned he will be even tougher with his scores to find the final four dancers as we approach the final of DWTS.
He said: “We have five great dancers now. They’re so close. You have to be picky to find the difference between them.
“So that leads me to pick up on mistakes in certain parts of their dances.
“You have two dancers in particular – Jack and Rhys – who have been fantastic since day one.
“But the challenge they face is staying ahead of the other three. Danny was in the dance-off last week but he managed to catch up on Sunday.
“But Kayleigh last Sunday night managed to put herself into the league of Jack and Rhys, and Aishah has been fantastic too.”
Judge Brian also revealed how he had lunch with TV chef Kevin Dundon last Sunday, hours before booting him off the show following a dance off with Aishah.
TIME TO GO
His likeable hoofing winning him fans nationwide but not on Liveline, where furious callers rang Joe Duffy to voice outrage that he survived week after week while better dancers were sent home.
Brian said: “What do I say about Kevin leaving the show? If I say I am happy, it will sound like I was happy to see him go.
“Instead I was happy with how Kevin went. I think he knew he was the weakest dancer left in the competition.
“But managing to get so close to the semi-final or the final, he never got a swelled head.
“He has every reason to be proud of himself, he puts himself out there in front of the public and he was very well received.
“I have to say he has been exemplary as to how he behaved on the show and was a pleasure to know. But he didn’t give me any recipes!
While Brian lunched with Kevin last Sunday, the TV judge said he steers and his fellow panel members steer clear of the celebs during the week as they perfect their routines.
He said: “For instance we never go near the Liffey Trust rehearsal rooms just out of respect for their performances.
“You just got to give them space to work through the glitches in their dances. That’s also out of respect for the performances.
“But once their dance shoes come off, I’m delighted to meet them. That could be in the car park when they’re coming and going from the studio, or sitting down to have lunch together on a Sunday before the show.
“The wonderful thing about this show is the opportunity it gives me to meet people from all parts of society, or who I have seen or heard on TV and radio.”
Meanwhile, Olympic gold medallist Kellie Harrington has revealed how producers tried to sign her up for Dancing With The Stars.
Speaking on Oliver Callan’s RTE radio show, Kellie said: “They did try to poach me, but I’m never doing DWTS. If they (RTE) came up with some masked singing show, I might do it.”
THE semi-finals of DWTS airs on RTE One at 6.30pm this Sunday.
