Television presenter Elaine Crowley has said she is "getting as fit as a fiddle" as she prepares to make her debut on Dancing with the Stars on Sunday night.
The Ireland AM host said she has inadvertently succeeded in a longtime New Year's resolution by agreeing to take part in the dancing competition.
Speaking to press ahead of the new series kicking off on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player at 6.30pm on Sunday, Crowley said: "Every year I say I'm going to get fit, I can safely say now I'm getting as fit as a fiddle so this is the one year my resolution will actually come true!"
The Cork-born TV star was effusive about the powers of dancing.
"It is good to be fit, I would highly recommend it," she said. "Forget the gym, forget running up mountains – do a bit of dancing, it is great craic.
"I probably will keep it up afterwards just for the fitness levels. You move all the muscles in your body, you feel great afterwards, you're very sweaty, it’s great!"
Crowley has been paired with professional dancer Denys Samson for this season of the dancing competition. She said that although he is "so competitive" they're "having a ball" in rehearsals.
"I needed to ask for someone nice and laidback and gentle and not super competitive and then they pair me with Denys," she laughed. "He’s so competitive, he really wants to win.
"He gets ferociously cranky, when he’s cranky Denys I’m just not entertaining it at all. We have to have fun and have joy in everything so I put a tutu on him the other day and it seemed to really cheer him up."
The TV host was typically frank about her dancing abilities.
"I'm not a dancer by nature in any shape or form. I think I had a couple of ballet classes when I was four but I was not cut out for it," she said.
Crowley said her former Ireland AM co-host Katja Mia, who competed on Dancing with the Stars last year, offered her a shoulder to cry on if she should need it, while singer Brooke Scullion said the experience was "really, really intense".
"I said, I kinda know that now!", Crowley laughed. "Good God, sure I'm in it now I may as well enjoy it."
She continued of her motivation to sign up to the show: "The last few years have been sad and depressing and I just wanted to have a bit of fun and a bit of joy.
"You only live once and you regret the stuff you don’t do more than the stuff that you do. Plus my family are getting a great kick out of it!"
Crowley added: "I’m going to embrace it, I’m going to have fun and the worst thing that can happen is I’ll make an awful eejit out of myself and sure I do that anyway.
"I'm in for the craic. Let’s call a spade a spade, I am no Ginger Roberts. Denys might be Fred Astaire but I am no Ginger Roberts!"
Watch Dancing with the Stars, Sundays at 6.30pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.
