Stephanie Roche is working hard on her character for this week's Dancing with the Stars and promises to bring a "serious" and "fierce" performance.
She may have been bottom on the leaderboard on week one, but Irish football star Roche has revealed she takes every note from the judges on board and is determined to improve each week.
Roche, who is performing a Pase Doble to Edge of Seventeen by John Gibbons and LYRA with her partner Ervinas Merfeldas on Sunday, told RTÉ Entertainment that she is proud of how far her dancing has come five weeks into the competition.
"It's perseverance for me. I said coming into the show I wanted to improve week on week. I have never danced before, I never even danced as a kid in terms of going to camps or anything like that. Football took over my life.
"So for me coming in, I had to just say let's just get better week on week, and I am proud to say I have done that. I think I have more confidence and I have tried to listen to [the] judges' comments and bring that into each dance.
"I think when you come from something you are really good at, to something you are not that good at, it can be difficult, so I think it is important that you just keep going.
"That is the footballer in me."
While Roche is having fun in the training room, she said the best thing about taking part in Dancing with the Stars is the messages she is receiving from the parents of young girls and boys.
"I run my own football coaching company and we have so many parents and schools emailing me saying they are watching - boys and girls - and they are loving that I am on it. That really is the best part of it for me.
"Even bumping into people on the street and telling me I'm doing great and that I am showing young girls that you can be a sports person and also do the glitz and glam. It's been really nice to get that feedback."
Speaking about training for this week's show, Roche was quick to praise her dance partner.
She said: "Ervinas has been really good - he brought a cape in this week and was really helping get my hips forward for this dance. I'm really trying to get into character, it's very serious, very fierce. It is just one of those things you have to embrace."
She added: "It's all about power and confidence in this dance and I think the song brings that as well, it is a very powerful song. We have a very good routine and we hope to smash it on Sunday."
Dancing with the Stars, RTÉ One and RTÉ Player, Sunday, 6:30pm
