Pop patriarch Daniel O'Donnell impressed the judges with his debut performance on Strictly Come Dancing on Friday, with judge Darcey Bussell saying he danced like "the perfect gentleman".
Dressed in a classic long-tailed black tux, Daniel took to a shiny dance floor bathed in shamrocks and green and blue light and danced a waltz to When Irish Eyes are Smiling with his partner Kristina Rihanoff, which earned him an impressive score of 24 out of 40.
King of the ballroom Len Goodman praised Daniel for having "the best footwork" he'd ever seen but added that his "hold" could have been stronger. Fellow judge Darcey Bussell said the easy-listening icon danced like "the perfect gentleman", while Bruno Tonioli said that Daniel was "very collected" and was "prim, proper, very collected, very well placed".
Craig Revel Horwood was not so kind, suggesting that the performance was "uneventful" and that the singer "nearly ripped Kristina's arm off" during a floor spin executed during their rather leisurely waltz.
After his performance, Daniel told host Claudia Winkleman that he was happy to have made his debut appearance and that he was excited about moving forward to the next stage of the series. "I'm excited, you just can't tell from looking at me." he joked.
There was no public voting on Strictly tonight and the show continues on Saturday night on BBC One at 9.00pm.
Daniel O'Donnell. That is all! #scd
— graham norton (@grahnort) September 25, 2015
Earlier today, Daniel told RTÉ's Today show that he was "as nervous as hell." about his Strictly debut. Speaking to Today hosts Maura Derrane and Dáithí Ó Sé, he said: "We've done an awful lot of rehearsal and Kristina is a brilliant teacher and it's up to me now to settle me nerves and display some of what I've learned and sure, none of us are going to be perfect as far as dancing is concerned but it has been such a great experience so far."
He added, "They're very strict - Strictly is a good name - about what we tell and what we don't tell and it was only a couple of days ago that they announced what we are dancing to. I'm doing a waltz and I'm doing it to When Irish Eyes are Smiling so there's a big Irish feel to it. It's really lovely and I just hope it works out well and that I enjoy it as much as I want to."
Daniel with his dancing partner Kristina Rihanoff
Daniel told Maura and Dáithí that he is training for five to six hours a day. "Prior to doing this if someone had said to me 'can you dance?', I would have been very cocky and said 'aye yeah I can dance all right'. I might be all right at The Rose of Tralee but this is something else."
He also revealed that his old school, Scoil Náisiúnta Béal na Cruite in Donegal, has pictures of him up on the walls to support his Strictly appearance. He also suggested that he might be introducing some barn dance steps on the show during his run.
