Dancing With The Stars have announced a change in Sunday night’s lineup as a result of “illness.”
Professional dancer Karen Byrne, who is the partner of Paralympic athlete Jason Smyth, has had to pull out from Sunday night’s show.
In a quick turnaround, Jason is now set to perform with new pro dancer Juliia Vaslyenko tomorrow night.
The Paralympian took to his Instagram to share the “unfortunate” news with his followers.
Jason said: “Hi guys, we have unfortunately some bad news on the dancing front- Karen has been sick all week and is ruled out for this weekend.”
“But we are wishing her a speedy recovery and hoping she is back as normal the following week.”
He teases his new partner as she pops out of the corner: “The good news is I have a new partner for this week…it is Juliia.”
He then asks her if she is ready for their performance tomorrow night to which she responds “I am ready.”
The Paralympian then said: “Good good, lets hope so- We will see you guys tomorrow!”
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Juliia has danced competitively for over twenty-five years and formerly owned a dance company called Fantasy in her home city of Odessa.
The dancer and her family had to flee Ukraine in 2022 due to the ongoing war, leaving behind her community and business.
The 30-year-old joined the show as an additional dancer for season 7 and is a former Latin American dance champion.
Juliia said: “I am very grateful to the people of Ireland and Dancing with the Stars for giving me such a great opportunity and chance to show myself. “
“I fell in love with the Irish people and really want to stay here. I came here with my whole family, I have two children, who are two and four years old, and I really want to do everything to make my children happy in this country and live in a safe place.”
Jason and Juliia are set to dance the Paso Doble in Sunday night’s show to the Bryan Adams’ classic, Run to You.
