Wild Youth star David Whelan has put a "nightmare" year behind him as he recovered from serious injuries and now gets his kicks on Dancing With the Stars.
And his bandmates encouraged him to take time out to participate in the RTE One show where he has emerged as an early favourite after a great opening performance with dance partner Salome Chacua.
It was a dance that had the judges beaming and heaping praise on him - especially after a slip that nearly brought his night to an early and unhappy ending.
But he and dance partner Salome quickly bounced back and put in one of the finest performances of the night, scoring an impressive 23 for their terrific tango.
"When I told the lads in Wild Youth that I was going to do Dancing With the Stars they all said ‘Go for it’ and were very supportive," he recalls, before explaining his current state of mind and sense of purpose.
"I’d a really tough year last year, so I was just going to say ‘yes’ to things I want to do. And I’m going to be me more. Wild Youth, I love – and Wild Youth’s my thing, but I am a person, an individual within Wild Youth.
"But I’ve been jumping over hurdles all year long, physically and mentally, with all the stuff that was going on. I was just: ‘I’m going to do this, lads’ and they were all like ‘Man, you do it’."
As David recalls the nightmare he experienced, it makes his journey to Dancing With the Stars quite remarkable. It’s a bit of a miracle to see him performing dance routines on live TV.
Really, the guy's lucky to be up and about at all - never mind on one of Irish telly's most popular shows - after the nightmare he's been through.
"I had a really bad accident in January last year," he explains. "I fell from eight feet. It was pretty traumatic as I landed on my neck and broke my collar bone into dust.
"And since then I have a big plate running along my collar bone, a plate in my shoulder and I have wires and ropes and stuff holding me together.
"And I had two major operations between January and March. Each one was seven hours long. One of them was actually at 5am the morning we won the Eurosong.
"I was rushed into hospital that morning for the operation.
"And then I was on rehabilitation and recovery and then we went straight into Eurovision. But I didn’t really get to experience the Eurovision like the guys did because I was in a lot of pain and on medication. I was still trying to recover.
"And then when I came back, I had a bit of down time to try and recover. So it was really hard for me, both mentally and physically. I’m the lead singer of Wild Youth and I had to take a back seat to being the lead singer because my body was so beat up."
His voices gets emotional as he adds: "It was hard to go through that experience, in pain, and see me not doing what I love doing. So it was a double whammy.
"But it’s put that extra meaning into this year. I want to enjoy life."
Smiling, he’s clearly delighted to be fully back on his feet - and leppin' about on Dancing With the Stars. "A few months ago, the heaviest thing I could lift was a cup of tea."
On tonight’s show, David and Salome are dancing a Charleston to Bad Boy Good Man by Tape Five. He’ll he happy to match last week’s performance - and hopeful that he’s over his first night nerves.
Although he’s been performing for many years with Wild Youth, who have opened for the likes Niall Horan, Lewis Capaldi and Westlife, the thought of his Dancing With the Stars debut filled him with anxiety.
"I was so nervous before the first show I was getting flashbacks to when I was 15 and doing my first pub gigs," he admitted. "I wanted to get sick!
"But the feeling after was like the same feeling I get when I’m on stage with the band. I was so high and so happy and I wanted to do it again. I’m absolutely loving the experience."
Dancing With The Stars, 6.30pm on Sundays on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.
