Dancing with the Stars contestant Alannah Beirne was a late addition to this season's line-up, but the Irish model says her professional dancing partner has been bringing her up to speed.
The Britain's Next Top Model finalist is a few weeks behind the other contestants in the rehearsals process as she was announced to be replacing injured Aoife Walsh on the show before Christmas.
However, the Naas-born model says her dancing partner Vitali Kozmin, who was partnered with actress Aoibhin Garrihy last year, has been a great help to her.
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Speaking to RTÉ Entertainment, she said: "I have Vitali as a dance partner, he’s fantastic. He’s very strict, but at the same time I get along with him.
"I enjoy training because he’s hard working, he’s motivated and he really wants me to learn the dance moves and make me look fabulous on the night.
"We work well together."
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The model said that she has a bit of dancing experience from her school days which is coming back to her, but has some old habits she has to grow out of.
"I did a little bit [of dancing] when I was a kid," Beirne explained. "The only thing was I was always the man, I was the tallest in the class, so I had the man moves the whole time.
"It’s all coming back to me now while training and I keep standing on my partner’s foot!"
The six-foot tall model joked that it's taking her a while to learn her steps as she has to do "the reverse of things," but added that "it's grand, we're getting there".
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The Kildare star said that one aspect of taking part in Dancing with the Stars compares favourably to her stint on Britain's Next Top Model last year.
"The great thing about it is, on Britain’s Next Top Model I didn’t have any support, I didn’t have any phone or contact with the outside world," she said.
"Whereas with Dancing with the Stars it’s going to be great because I’ll have my family for support, I’ll have my friends there and I’m really hoping the public will get behind me and support me."
The second season of Dancing with the Stars Ireland shimmies onto screens on Sunday, January 7 at 6.30pm on RTÉ One.
