Celebs already keen as Strictly heads to Ireland
As RTÉ swaps The Voice for Dancing with the Stars, names are already said to be pouring in
RTÉ has landed its own ballroom as Dancing with the Stars replaces The Voice – and celebrities are already eager to take part.
Producer Larry Bass told RTÉ Radio 1 that he's been getting calls about celebrities wanting to take part, just days after the announcement was made.
Care to share any of those names? "I couldn't divulge that. There's nobody desperate in Irish television!"
"These are the fun parts of putting these shows together and working it out," he added. "It's significant time and commitment – people have to rehearse and practise. There is a major commitment in terms of time in this so it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea."
But he reckon Irish viewers will lap up the format.
"When Irish people watch Daniel [O'Donnell] or Nicky [Byrne] do it in the UK they follow that journey where they have their ups and downs trying to get together the ability to dance at that level. It's a phenomenon to be able to turn somebody who's not a dancer into a professional dancer in a matter of weeks."
Meanwhile, RTÉ 2FM's Chris Greene and Ciara King have been having some fun, much like we all do with the UK version, thinking about who might take part. They joked it will be a line-up of "former" stars.
"Former rugby stars, former Eurovision winners, like proper former. Very former.
"One of these Snapchat people... a digital influencer. A social media influencer!" they joked.
For Bass, though, just landing the show has been a long time coming.
"It was one of those shows that the BBC keep close to their chest. It's a hugely important format for them and they're very particular where it goes and what happens to it. Finally they've agreed to allow RTÉ do it."
