Boogie nights return to RTÉ as Dancing with the Stars kicks off its latest season (RTÉ One, Sunday, 6.30pm). But will there be boogie frights for this year’s celebrities? That’s the question posed by an agreeable though hardly spectacular launch episode that features twists, turns and all kinds of grimaces.
But enough about Jennifer Zamparelli and Doireann Garrihy, its presenters. The big innovation in 2025 is the promotion of the veteran pro dancer Karen Byrne to the judges’ panel. The elevation is at the behest of Byrne herself, a two-time DWTS champion who fancies a new challenge.
Her debut as adjudicator is full of promise, and she looks set to follow the example of Strictly Come Dancing’s Anton Du Beke, who similarly stepped away from the dance floor to become a bit of a softie as a judge on the BBC show.
“Your first dance – I’m lost for words,” she tells Jack Woolley, the taekwondo Olympian, who, dancing a Viennese waltz with Alex Vladimirov, finishes second on the night with an impressive 30 points. And she manages to be complimentary to Joanna Donnelly, who is at the bottom of the leader board thanks to a damp and forgettable cha-cha-cha to It’s Raining Men by The Weather Girls (one pun among many directed at the meteorologist through the evening).
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“You gave it a good lash,” Byrne says, her positivity contrasting with Brian Redmond’s bruising honesty as he tells Donnelly she hit “a bit of a dry spell”.
One week in, it’s difficult to predict potential winners. Woolley is a clear front-runner – as is his fellow Olympian Rhys McClenaghan, who won gold on the pommel horse in Paris last summer. As accomplished a hoofer as he is a gymnast, he blazes across the floor when accompanying the pro Laura Nolan in a salsa.
“More tricks than a magician. We’re not giving out gold medals tonight, but that’s the kind of thing that would get you on a podium,” Redmond says. McClenaghan shoots straight to the top of the leader board with 31 points.
Down in the basement, Donnelly is joined by the chef Kevin Dundon, whose American smooth is a riot of food props – so much so that the dancing is obscured, as Redmond points out. “All icing and not enough cake” is his damning verdict – though the dressing-down seems to go over the head of Dundon, a kitchen whizz who looks as if he could eat himself.
Then there are the mid-table dancers, including the comedian Gearóid Farrelly, dancing as part of a same-sex couple with Stephen Vincent, and the TikTok comedian Kayleigh Trappe, who aims to go where Patrick Kavanagh failed and make Monaghan famous for its ballroom jive.
Everything is still to play for, and the first elimination episode is all of a fortnight away. For now, everyone involved will be relieved to get through launch night – especially Byrne, who makes for a fun addition to the judging panel. She is set to become a feelgood foil to Redmond’s Mr Sourpuss routine – and what sweet music that will be for the contestants.
