Dancing with the Stars' Brian Redmond has said the responsibility "goes up that extra notch" for the judging panel as the competition prepares for its first dance-off this weekend.
On this Sunday's show, the two couples with the lowest scores will have to perform their dance for a second, nail-biting time, with the judges ultimately choosing who will proceed in the competition.
The dance-off is a gut-wrenching addition to the show and is understandably a source of great anxiety for the contestants.
Redmond said he also feels the pressure rising, as judging the dance-offs can involve "a really difficult decision".
Speaking ahead of Sunday night's show, he said: "There's a huge responsibility giving the scores. The scores that we give each week affect the judges' leaderboard, which has a knock-on effect into who is eliminated or who gets immunity, as we saw this week [with Matthew MacNabb winning immunity from the dance-off].
"Once the dance-off comes in, that responsibility goes up that extra notch."
"There's probably been three, maybe four dance-offs in all seasons of Dancing with the Stars up 'til now where it's been a genuinely tough decision, and while I had an opinion one way or the other, sometimes they go the same way you would predict, sometimes they don't.
"But in those three or four examples, you couldn't really argue one way or the other. Sometimes it's a relatively easy decision and sometimes it's a really difficult decision.
"You've just got to be as honest as you can because at the end of the day you're the one that's going to go home and live with that. Whatever about looking back at something from five years ago and saying, 'Maybe that six could have been a seven', you never want to look back at a dance-off because it's so final."
"The pressure does go up a little bit, but it's the same sort of responsibility that we have for every dance and every score," he continued.
The former professional dancer is famed for his frank, sometimes brutally honest feedback to the competitors. He said he luckily doesn't get much flack for his approach off-screen.
"I think I'm very lucky we're doing it in Ireland because the Irish personality and the Irish humour get it," he said.
"The place I get the most criticism is at home, from my wife Jen or from my little girl Anna, and I've got to be very careful. Anna I can just about handle, Jen I have to put the head down every now and then."
Redmond said there could be shocks later in this season as the competition heats up.
"For sure, you can have surprises. People who have been in the dance-off have won the series and it could happen again this year. We'll just have to wait another six weeks to find out."
Dancing with the Stars airs on Sunday at 6.30pm on RTÉ One.
