Elaine Crowley is set for a very busy new year as she juggles Dancing with the Stars rehearsals with her role on the popular morning chat show on Ireland AM.
Practice is already in full swing for the 2025 season of Dancing with the Stars (DWTS), set to air on Sunday, January 5th. Cork woman Elaine, who's teaming up with professional dancer Denys Samson, said she's loving the experience - despite finding it utterly exhausting.
Chatting with RSVP Live at the Stadium Panto's opening night, she said: "I'm so tired. I have muscles aching in my body which I didn't know existed. I'm dancing four hours a day." She joked, "My voice is gone and my dignity is gone too."
Despite the demanding training, Elaine will still grace our screens on Ireland AM most weekends alongside Martin King next year, taking Sundays off for obvious reasons. "I will still be on the show on the weekends. I'll have every Sunday off obviously because I can't host the show and then do Dancing with the Stars, it will be too long a day.
"But yes, I will still be working away. I'm still happy out with Virgin Media, they are just lending me off for a little bit."
Elaine admitted she didn't ask anyone for advice before joining the show, even former Virgin Media stars like Glenda Gilson and Katja Mia, who've both been on DWTS in the past.
"I didn't ask anyone for advice, because the penny didn't drop that I'm actually doing it until I was on The Late Late Show last week. I thought, 'uh oh, there's no backing out now'.
"I was afraid to find out too much about it, because I kind of already knew it was going to be exhausting from talking to Katja and Brooke Scullion, who have been on it before. They told me it was so tough and I thought they were exaggerating, but they really weren't."
Elaine admitted that in the past the timing had never seemed right to join DWTS, but now she's ready to dive in for a bit of fun in 2025.
"It's been mooted before. I always said never in a million years would I do it. I'm not being modest here, I do not have a great skill set when it comes to dancing and I hate doing things I'm not good at. But I want a bit of craic next year and you only live once. The kids in my family, my nieces and nephews adore it. My sisters love it too."
Downplaying any nerves, Elaine added: "What is the worst thing that can happen? If I fall, Denys can pick me up."
"It's a new year, a new challenge, so why not? Normally I join the gym again and hope to get fit by that but this time I have no choice because I'll be thrown around the dance floor."
It's been a busy month for the Cork TV star, who recently partnered with the Irish Cancer Society’s Night Nursing Service for their Christmas appeal. This initiative provides nighttime care for patients in their own homes - allowing them to spend precious time with their families while they fight the disease.
Elaine, now 47, lost her father Sean to an incurable form of cancer called liposarcoma when she was just 23. Her mother Mary V died in 2021 from lung cancer and her nephew Ultan died from a rare form of cancer in 2023 when he was just 11.
Speaking for this year's campaign, she said: "This is such a special service, and I know firsthand how valuable this time with your loved one is. I encourage anybody who is thinking of giving this Christmas to donate anything you can to support the wonderful work of the Irish Cancer Society and their Night Nurses.
"The work they do, the support they give, and the positive impact this can have for families is incredibly important."
