An upbeat Stephanie Roche has told the Ryan Tubridy Show on RTÉ Radio 1 that she will look back on her time on Dancing with the Stars with great fondness.
The Shamrock Rovers and Ireland forward and her professional dance partner Ervinas Merfeldas lost out to presenter and entrepreneur Suzanne Jackson and her professional dance partner John Nolan in the first dance-off of the current series on Sunday night's show.
The morning after, Roche said Sunday night had been her highlight.
"It's weird to say, obviously, because we went last night, but I think last night because the Samba was definitely the biggest challenge for us. I think going out on a high was nice. I think if I had've went out and made a mess of a dance it wouldn't have been nice to live with myself!"
The RTÉ football pundit said she wanted to "show a different side" of herself away from sport and that learning to dance had always been on her "bucket list".
"When you're working in TV, doing the TV punditry, it's all very serious. You don't really get to show your personality. During this run of the show, I really tried to get that across.
"I think it's important to try new things and put yourself out there. I think I tried to do that as best I could.
"It was great getting to know Ervinas - he's been brilliant. He got a very raw dancer coming into it (laughs) - I've never danced before! I think he got me to a level where I could be proud of myself and that's all I can ever hope for."
Saluting his dance partner, Merfeldas said: "The raw dancer that I actually got from the very start, it was difficult and it was a long, long journey, but I'm very proud and can easily say you have changed as a person. I can even say you're basically a dancer at this point."
Dancing with the Stars continues on Sunday on RTÉ One and the RTÉ Player at 6:30pm.
