RTÉ have defended Demi Isaac Oviawe’s place on Dancing With The Stars.
On Sunday night, the Young Offenders star was left in tears as she received criticism from the judges, and found herself at the bottom of the leaderboard after dancing with her partner Kai Widdrington.
Some viewers were felt concerned for the actress, as the 18-year-old is currently studying for her Leaving Certificate on top of rehearsing for DWTS.
However, RTÉ have since told the Irish Independent, “Like all of the celebrity contestants on ‘Dancing with the Stars’, rehearsals are organised around their schedule. For Demi’s schedule, appropriate arrangements were discussed and agreed with Demi, her guardians and the school principal in advance.”
An “exuberant” performance from @demiisaac & @Kaiwidd 10 points for their Cha Cha #DWTSIrl @DWTSIRL pic.twitter.com/5SCwUXpCEn
— RTE One (@RTEOne) January 13, 2019
“Demi, who is an actress, has learned how to balance school life while working on shows like ‘The Young Offenders’ and this is something [for which] she has the full support of her family and school while pursuing her career,” they added.
Meanwhile, Demi said, “It’s been my dream to do ‘Dancing with the Stars’ and now my dream has come true. Like when I worked on ‘The Young Offenders’ – my school, teachers and family are very supportive, which means I can follow my dream while staying in school to complete my Leaving Cert.”
“I loved performing my first solo dance on Sunday with Kai. And in between school, I’m going to practise, practise, practise to make sure I wow the judges this week.”
