Lucy Kennedy has revealed why she turned down the chance to host RTÉ’s Dancing With The Stars.
The popular presenter has admitted she was offered the coveted role, but declined the job due to her other work commitments.
Speaking exclusively to Goss.ie, the mother-of-three confessed: “I was offered the hosting role. I turned it down because of Living with Lucy – I’m just too busy.”
Picture: Brian McEvoy
“So, yes. I was very kindly offered the role, but I just couldn’t do it.”
“I couldn’t marry the two; because Living with Lucy is my baby, and I wouldn’t physically have the time to do the two, so I turned it down.”
Although she was offered the presenting gig, Lucy admitted she would never partake in the show as a contestant.
She joked that viewers would never see her in lycra on national television.
Earlier this month, RTÉ announced Doireann Garrihy as Nicky Byrne’s replacement on Dancing With The Stars.
The broadcaster will co-host the dancing contest with Jennifer Zamparelli when it returns to air in January 2023.
Nicky announced his shock departure from Dancing With The Stars back in August.
In a post shared on Instagram at the time, the Westlife star wrote: “A little news from me. Sadly I will be stepping away from hosting ‘Dancing with the Stars’ on RTÉ.”
“Westlife are now ten shows into our ‘Wild Dreams’ tour. We had two phenomenal nights at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium followed by a mind blowing show at Wembley Stadium and two absolutely sensational nights at Cork’s Páirc Uí Chaoimh,” he continued.
“This tour continues now taking us around the world including five continents with 60 plus shows up until Summer 2023.”
“So with all this in mind, I have had to make some tough decisions. One of them is my future hosting ‘Dancing with the Stars’ on RTÉ – a show I have loved hosting from the very beginning.”
“I have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of this show, full of glitz n’ glamour and of course, being a part of everyone’s Sunday night Winter TV viewing. It’s been a brilliant five seasons since we launched in 2017, working with the best crew in the world.”
“I have smiled and laughed my way through those 59 shows to date and what a journey it’s been. I take away the greatest memories,” Nicky wrote.
“Thank you, Amanda and Jennifer, and of course Lottie for stepping in. Thank you RTÉ. Thank you to the amazing team in ShinAwil. Thank you to Loraine, Brian, Arthur and Julian and all of the professional dancers. Thank you to the crew of hundreds who made all of those shows special.”
NO FEE FOR REPRO ,PLEASE NOTE THIS IS ONLY FOR DURATION OF THE SHOW ,REPRO FEE APPLIES AFTER THAT,
KOBPIX.
Nicky concluded his post by writing: “I wish whoever takes over from me the absolute best. Just don’t fall down that stairs at the start of the show!! You’ll have an absolute blast.”
Lucy spoke to Goss.ie ahead of a brand new episode of her Lucy Investigates series on Virgin Media One tonight at 9pm.
The third episode of the programme will explore the travelling community, and Lucy hopes it will tackle common misconceptions about their community.
Lucy told us: “I really feel that the travelling community get a terrible time in the papers, and I’ve had nothing but positive experiences. Between living with Hughie Maughan, who is absolutely hysterical, and also John Connors, I have had nothing but good experiences.”
“I feel like the travelling community just get a really bad time in the press and it’s totally unfair.”
“I talked to two girls in a beauty salon, who said they cannot get a job because of their surname, and I just think that is completely and utterly bonkers in this day in age.”
“It concerns me a lot that the travelling community are still viewed so badly in the eyes of so many people. I just think it’s wrong and it’s really unfair.”
The 46-year-old said she went into filming the episode with a “completely open mind on everything.”
“With the travelling community there was no fear, there was nothing off the table, everyone was really honest,” she said.
“In this whole documentary series Lucy Investigates everybody was so honest, it took seven months to film, which is why Living with Lucy is slightly delayed.”
“Out of all the people I met, there wasn’t one bad egg in the whole series. Everybody was really genuine, very comfortable in their own skin – just really good eggs. I really got to know real people, rather than three days living with a celebrity.”
“I think the travelling community are misrepresented and I think if the average person were to educate themselves a little bit more, they’d see how discriminative some people are towards the travelling community and I think it’s wrong. I really think it’s wrong,” she added.
