Rory Cowan has been revealed as the tenth celebrity to join the new series of Dancing with the Stars on RTÉ One and the RTÉ Player.
The Fair City actor and former Mrs Brown's Boys star said of taking to the dancefloor: "Last year I couldn't do it because I had back surgery. But this year it's going to be fantastic because I'm 64, I'm turning 65 in July, and I just want to go out with a bang.
"I'm not going to be doing anything else after this. I'll continue with Fair City for as long as they like, that's a wonderful show to have. But when I'm 65, I want to do as little as possible!
"I just think that dancing lifts your heart. I don't have any expectations of winning this. I've plantar fasciitis. I've had back surgery. I'm a bit decrepit for my age! I'm in good form, but I just know if I don't do it this year, I'll never do it."
On his previous dancing experience, he continued: "When I was three or four years of age, my mother took me to Irish dancing. At the time, there was a champion Irish dancer called Rory O'Connor and he had a dance school out in Rathfarnham.
"I was a really lanky kid. All the other kids were half my size in height and I was [accidentally] kicking the girls on either side of me.
"Rory O'Connor said to my mother, 'Missus, you may take that child out of here, he's more suited to demolishing houses', so that's what I'm going to be doing on Dancing with the Stars!"
On his DWTS costume for the photo shoot, he added: "Of all the jackets in all my life, this jacket is the one that suits me the most I have ever had. It gives me a waist and it gives me shoulders and I have never had! It gives me a lovely shape.
"I was amazed by it and I'm raving about it. Everything is going to be good about this show for me, even if I only last two or three weeks - everything is going to be fabulous!"
Also taking part in the new series of Dancing with the Stars are: The Six O'Clock Show presenter Katja Mia, jockey Davy Russell, Fair City actor Shane Quigley Murphy, 2FM and Ireland's Fittest Family presenter Laura Fox, former Miss World Rosanna Davison, newscaster Eileen Dunne, Wild Youth singer David Whelan, drag queen superstar Blu Hydrangea, and TikTok sensation Miriam Mullins.
The final contestant will be revealed on Friday.
Dancing with the Stars will return to RTÉ One and the RTÉ Player in January.
