Confetti swirls, trousers rip and a stray “feck” rings out as Olympic champion Rhys McClenaghan and his pro partner, Laura Nolan, are crowned winners of Dancing with the Stars 2025 (RTÉ One, Sunday).
It’s a surprise victory for the talented gymnast, in that he has been the slightly too obvious standout celebrity throughout the series. In previous years viewers have demonstrated a perplexing fondness for cheeky chappies or underdogs rather than high achievers – in which case the Mrs Brown’s Boys actor Danny O’Carroll and the influencer Kayleigh Trappe would have had the look of being potential dark horses this time around.
But in an unusual display of common sense, the Irish voting public instead award the Glitterball trophy to McClenaghan, who tops off his Dancing with the Stars adventure with a stunning show dance, soundtracked by Benson Boone, that culminates with a breathtaking series of backflips.
Though his is a deserved win, you have to feel for the taekwondo champion Jack Woolley, who pushes McClenaghan all the way in an enjoyable finale and, dancing with Alex Vladimirov, similarly receives two rounds of perfect scores from the judges. Woolley breaks down in tears as he talks about how he became self-conscious about smiling after his lip was damaged in a vicious assault in 2021. It has been, he says, “a journey to love myself again. I’ve be scared of smiling.”
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He may not have placed first, but Woolley’s tearful appearance in the final is nonetheless hugely affecting – though he could have done without splitting his trousers during his show dance. “An epic rip of the pants. I’m so happy you’re wearing underwear!” Jennifer Zamparelli, one of the presenters, gasps.
The other talking point is a stray “feck” from the judging panel as they lavish superlatives on McClenaghan’s show dance – for which Zamparelli perhaps goes over the top in offering a profuse apology. Is “feck” beyond the bounds now? Ireland, what have we become?
It’s just a wrinkle, though, at the end of a grand decider that is high on drama and, in McClenaghan, has a worthy winner. “I don’t know ... I’m in another world,” he says, in shock as his name is read out. But he surely can’t be all that stunned: since the start, the Olympian’s Dancing with the Stars journey has had gold medal written all over it.
