Ahead of this week’s show, Gráinne Seoige has admitted that participating in Dancing with the Stars is a "vulnerable place".
One again, a dancer will be sent home this week, following the second dance-off of the season which will feature the two couples who have the least votes when judges' and public votes are combined on Sunday evening's show.
The judges will then vote on whose journey on Dancing with the Stars will come to an end this weekend. But Seoige freely concedes that it’s just part of the DWTS deal.
Missy Keating was the first of these year’s contestants to lose out after a dance-off, and no one left in the contest is under any illusions. Anyone can be next to get the boot.
"Obviously, by signing-up for a show like this, you are putting yourself in a vulnerable position," Seoige says. "And everybody I talk to who’s in the media industry, like other TV presenters, they see it, and they feel it.
"They go: 'Wow, you're very brave’, because you know that you’re leaving your area of expertise and setting yourself upper judgement and criticism.
"And when you start, you have no idea how it’s going to go," she adds. "There is no sure thing. You could be gone in week two. You could injure yourself. You could be really, really bad.
"And especially when you’re starting like I did, with zero dance experience, you really don’t know how it’s going to pan out. That, number one, is putting yourself in a vulnerable place.
"Then you’re going to show your anxiety, and your nerves, your excitement and your fear, and [makes retching sound] that feeling we all get when the music starts on Sunday night."
This Sunday is Big Band Week on Dancing with the Stars, with the dancers taking to the floor to perform their numbers to music performed by the RTE Concert Orchestra.
Gráinne Seoige is going to be the first to show off her latest moves, as she and professional dancer John Nolan will be opening the show by dancing to Martha and the Vandellas’ Motown hit, Dancing in the Street.
"I’m really excited to go first," Gráinne insists. "I’ve either been last or close to last dancing up until now, so to be opening the show - it’s actually a big honour, and I’m really really happy.
"I love this dance we’re doing, a cha-cha, to Dancing in the Streets. And we got to hear the slimmed-down version of the Concert Orchestra playing the first notes of the song, that ‘Dah-dah-diddle-ah-dah’.
"When you hear the brass going, it’s like, wow!" she adds. "I think it’s going to start the show off in a great mood - party, party, party!"
Last time out, Gráinne and John put in a fabulous performance while dancing a tango. She really impressed, and many viewers felt that she deserved a much higher score than the 22 points awarded by the judges.
So how is she going to follow last week? Never one to shirk a challenge, the former TV presenter just laughs.
"Loved the tango. I loved it," she says. "Just between the lighting, and the music, and the whole feeling that the music gave us, I think we did something lovely.
"But luckily," she adds, with that cheeky smile, "I love the cha-cha as well, and I love the music we’ve been given. So It’s been really easy to dive into it, and in a good frame of mind coming from last week.
"It’s been a wonderful week of training, actually. Fingers crossed it’ll look that good on Sunday. A lot of people say that the cha-cha is very difficult, but the routine itself that John has choreographed is great fun.
"And it’s got a really Sixties’ flavour, so I’m loving it."
Dancing with the Stars, 6.30pm, Sunday, RTÉ One
