2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Sandra Mallon)
Dancing With The Stars finalist Kayleigh Trappe has said the show is the “best thing” that has happened to her family. The Monaghan native has powered through the RTÉ One competition since January with her pro dance partner Ervinas Merfeldas. And Kayleigh said the show has made her family closer while her brother told her of the positive effect it has had in Monaghan in recent months.
Speaking ahead of the final, she said: “I didn't realise how it was going to change me as a person. I didn't realise how much it would help me. “I knew I’d be vulnerable going into it, but I didn't realise how much the bad days nearly become the best days, because you learn so much from it and you come out the other end.
“And yeah, I did just think it'll be a little bit of dancing, go out and show off, have the craic, and that's it. It's definitely not but in the best way possible. And my dad, I was home yesterday for a homecoming, and my dad was telling me that it's the best thing that ever happened to our family in this type of way.
“And my brother James, who I've only seen once or twice since Christmas, I haven't been home, and he turned around to me, and he just said, 'Kayleigh, the feeling around Monaghan over this show, is just so lovely to see. It has been a right boost around here and we are so proud of you as a family’. “It's made us so much closer.
And yeah, just taking the showbiz element out of it, what it has done for me and my family in that way, it's incredible, and there is no word to describe it, we have just become so close. “We appreciate each other so much more. It's insane how much it has exceeded my expectations.
” On Sunday night, Kayleigh and Ervinas will dance their routine from Love Week back in week seven. The pair have high hopes that their Salsa to Christina Aguilera’s Let There Be Love will recapture the judges’ adoration a second time round. The lip sync star said her new boyfriend Tom will be there “suited and booted” on Sunday.
“He's been there pretty much close to every week, and he's getting plenty of slagging from the lads at football about how many camera moments he gets, but I think he loves it really. “And, yeah, he's just very proud. It's great to have that support behind me.
He'll be there, suited and booted on Sunday.” But Kayleigh said the most “challenging thing” about doing Dancing With The Stars was “letting go”. “I've made a career out of playing characters and putting on wigs and never really being myself.
And I remember specifically week five for contemporary, I had to let go, and I couldn't, I really couldn't just be myself. “Because I find it's weird when I'm playing a character, I am as confident as ever, because I know I'm not being myself but when I'm told to be myself, my confidence just goes and that comes back from, you know, a history of a lot of body confidence issues, so it really showed in this competition. “But it was bittersweet, because although it was difficult to get past those times, even now today, we're doing our routine, and Ervinas is just constantly saying how proud he is of how much I'm freer and letting go and not as hesitant with things.
“So it was, although it was the most difficult part of the whole journey, it ended up being the best part as well, because I'm going to leave this show now with a lot more confidence, and I'm going to back myself a lot more because that's something I would have not done in the past. “So it's lovely, and I’ve Ervinas to thank for that,” she added. Dancing With The Stars, the grand final, airs on Sunday at 6:30pm on RTE One.
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