Karen Byrne has addressed the major changes to the professional dancer line-up on Dancing With The Stars.
The popular series will return to RTÉ next month after a year-long hiatus, but the show is coming back with a lot of changes.
Julian Benson is being replaced by Arthur Gourounlian on the judging panel, and bosses have hired a number of new pro dancers following the departure of Ryan McShane, Giulia Dotta, Kai Widdrington and Robert Rowinski.
Speaking to the Irish Mail on Sunday’s Magazine, Karen said: “I don’t know why they made the changes, I never asked, I suppose just to refresh things.”
“I was just hoping they weren’t going to refresh me.”
The 29-year-old continued: “I have to say I was a bit nervous going in, thinking there is so many changes is it going to make a difference in the group as we were all so close.”
“But I have to say all of them that have joined the team… it’s kind of like they’ve been there the whole time and we all get on.”
“This year is different because we are all in a little bubble so we aren’t getting to mix as much so we probably wouldn’t know them as much as we would normally.”
“The first week back training we had three days where we did a pro group number and after that you are with your celebrity partner, then you get paired with one other professional,” Karen explained.
“Maurizio, the new Italian dancer, is my pro-partner for the show so it’s mainly him I have contact with. They are trying their best to keep the show going.”
Dancing With The Stars will return to RTÉ One at 6.30pm on Sunday, January 9th, with presenters Jennifer Zamparelli and Nicky Byrne at the helm.
The celebrity lineup for 2022 includes Love Island star Matthew MacNabb, Irish rugby star Jordan Conroy, author Cathy Kelly, Aslan’s Billy McGuinness, Irish jockey Nina Carberry, TV presenter Grainne Seoige and newscaster Aengus Mac Grianna.
Completing the lineup are Paralympian Ellen Keane, comedian Neil Delamere, singer Erica Cody, model Missy Keating and Irish cyclist Nicholas Roche.
