RTE star Karen Byrne has reflected on her first year as a judge on Dancing With The Stars.
The professional dancer joined the panel alongside longstanding experts Arthur Gourounlian, Loraine Barry and Brian Redmond this year.
The Dubliner, previously a pro on the RTE One show for seven seasons, admitted that although it was “a challenge” she is “slowly but surely” finding her feet in the new role.
In a recent interview with Chic, the two-time Dancing With The Stars winner said it “couldn’t have gone any better”.
She said: “I’m so privileged that making the transition from being a pro dancer — and actually them believing in me, to give me that kind of promotion into the judges’ seat, I don’t think I could have started the year off in a more positive way, if I’m honest.”
Karen also admitted that while it was an “extremely nerve-wrecking” move, the rest of the judging panel welcomed her “with open arms”.
The 32-year-old recalled how Loraine, Brian and Arthur all got in touch with her after the announcement.
She said: “They all messaged me, they all sent me a lovely message or rang me. I think they were excited. It’s always nice — even for me as a pro dancer, when I was dancing on the show, when there was a new face it was exciting. It’s new energy.
“I think they were excited about that, as well. I felt like even when I was nervous on the first show, they were like, ‘Karen, you’re not on your own; you have us to lean on’. They’ve always been super nice.”
Karen also admitted that she knows how “tough” it is to compete in the competition, so when joining the panel she “always wanted to take the approach to be more like their cheerleader than critiquing them”.
After her incredible win with Jason Smyth last year, the TV star felt it was time for her to “move to do something new”.
She said: “Being a professional on a show for so long, I felt it was a nice way, winning with Jason, to close the chapter on that. I own a studio, I dance every day. So it’s not like, ‘oh, Karen’s never going to dance again’. I never had that in my mind, ‘oh, I’ll never dance again’.
“I felt it was the right time to close that chapter and open a new one — and challenge myself in a more presenting role, nearly, than anything else.
FINAL COUNTDOWN
“When I’m watching the pro dancers, I’m up on my feet cheering them on. I love watching them and will always love the dance side of the show, but I think it was time for me to move to do something new.”
And coming to the end of her first season as a judge, Karen said her stand out moment was “walking down the stairs and being announced as the new judge, as Karen Byrne the judge”.
The hit RTE show’s highly-anticipated finale takes place tomorrow and Karen has shared her biggest piece of advice for each of the celebrities.
She said: “I think for the final, the only thing you can say is that you have to — as cliché as it is, this is your last moment to dance. You’ve had such an amazing journey with your pro partner. You build such a friendship; it was the same between me and Jason.
“The only thing you can do is get out there, do everything you can and just enjoy the moment. It doesn’t matter who wins or loses. It is genuinely about having that journey together and enjoying every performance.
“It’s not like ‘perform like it will be your last’. It will be your last, so just cherish the memory. It is something that you’ll never get again.”
