Dayl Cronin, who has emerged as the early frontrunner on Dancing with the Stars after impressing audiences with his light-footed Charleston, is enjoying a bromance with another contestant and reveals who he thinks might be the "dark horse" of the bunch.
The HomeTown star tore up the dancefloor with his Charleston with pro dancer Ksenia Zsikhotska in week one, scoring the highest out of his fellow male celebrities and making him an instant bookies' favourite.
"There's extra pressure now because I'm top at the minute, people are expecting me to nearly be top every week I suppose. It's going to be hard for me to stay top", he told RTÉ Entertainment.
The singer admitted that perfecting the Charleston "wasn't easy", but the hours of rehearsal "paid off on the day".
Despite an excellent performance, he got a bit of stick for performing a Charleston to a modern son, My Way by Calvin Harris. However, the popstar wouldn't write off doing it again as he's not afraid to "cause a bit of controversy".
"I wanted to add my own style to the dance and made it more 'me'", he explained. "I like to change it up and put my twist on it, and hopefully people will enjoy it throughout the weeks."
The Tipperary star is having ups and downs while training for the show, saying "it's mentally and physically draining" and takes so much out of you as you're "just thrown into the deep end". Luckily, it's been "mainly good, so far".
The 24-year-old is looking forward to seeing the ladies take to the dancefloor on Sunday night's show, saying "they're all going to do amazing, I know they will."
And who is his biggest competition?
"I think everyone is good in their own way, Denise (McCormack) and Aoibhinn (Garrihy) would probably be the best but I have a feeling Katherine Lynch might surprise a few people. I've seen her in rehearsals, I think she might be a bit of a dark horse."
The "Strictly curse", which involves relationships falling apart during when contestants hook up with their dancing partners, grabs a lot of headlines in the UK version of the show, but Cronin insists there are no romances bubbling under the surface in the Irish version.
"It's just a friendly environment", he insisted, adding laughingly, "There's no goss!"
He's getting along famously with everyone on set, including his dance partner Ksenia, "we're actually really good friends", and his fellow contestants, who he says are all "so sound and so nice".
"There's no big egos or anything! They're all down to earth, genuine people", he added.
@CroninDayl - DWTS Week 1 pic.twitter.com/YC6MSvcDRI
— Sarah McFadyen (@sarahmcfadyen_) January 11, 2017
In particular he's enjoying a "bromance" with Kerry footballer Aidan O'Mahony, who has taken him under his wing a bit.
"I'm living with Aidan O'Mahony at the minute, so we're literally joint at the hip at this stage, a bit of a bromance happening, we're good craic", he said.
"He does be looking after me, he's like my father as such and I'm like the son he never had. We go to the gym together and he's always cooking me dinner. He's sound like that!"
His HomeTown bandmates are also hoping to watch him from the sidelines in one of the upcoming live shows, with Cronin saying "it would be great to see them in the audience supporting me."
His parents, brother and godmother were cheering him on for his solo dance debut in week one, with Cronin saying they were "over the moon".
"My mam said as soon as I walked out onto the floor she held her breath because she was so nervous and as soon as the dance was over she finally released, she could relax then. She was a proud mammy!", he said.
His next dance is the tango, which he admits he is "finding challenging" in rehearsals.
"It's a very manly dance and it has a lot of technique to it and it's the posture and how you stand. You have to really stand tall like a man and you have to lead the woman as well, I'm finding it really tough at the minute."
That was amazing! Really has me so excited for Sunday 💃 @RTEOne @DWTSIRL great job @BlathnaidT 👌🎉 #CantStopDancing pic.twitter.com/Hz9ymdTAs3
— Dayl Cronin (@CroninDayl) January 6, 2017
One thing he has gotten used to is the fake tan, which he thought was "a joke" at first.
"They [production team] were like 'you have to do a spray tan now before the dress rehearsal'. I thought it was a joke. They had it all set up in the room, I had to strip down and get the spray tan, I was like 'what is this!'
"To be honest I actually don't mind the colour, it's a nice colour, so I might be getting a spray tan done every week!"
Dancing with the Stars continues at 6.30pm on RTÉ One.
