Actress Denise McCormack has said she misses watching her ex-pro dance partner Ryan McShane dance on Dancing With The Stars – saying the standard of his dancing is lost.
Ryan, who had been part of the show’s line up since its launch, announced his shock departure from the show in December – saying he was left feeling “worthless” after being judged on his weight rather than his ability on the dance floor.
Denise and Ryan danced their way to the final together back in 2017, which saw former GAA star Aidan O’Mahony lift the glitterball trophy.
But the former Red Rock actress, who is starring in her first horror short film, Family Night, said that although she continues to watch the show, she told us she is “sad” Ryan is no longer on it.
She told us: “I watch it every year. I love it and the kids watch it with me now.
“I’m really sad to see him not on it. I think the show misses him actually. I think the show misses him, Giulia (Dotta) and Kai (Widdrington). Ryan was a big personality – he was very forthcoming with his opinions. I think that was nice. I think it was great to see the judges being challenged and the opinions being challenged, it’s good television.
“When I was in it.. the voting… you get really sucked into the whole logistics of it, the judging but at the end of the day it is television and its entertainment. I just watch it for the craic.
“That’s why we miss someone like Ryan because he would’ve absolutely said something. He defended people. I liked that.
“Also he was a fantastic dancer. He was a European champion. The standard of his dancing is lost as well. I would have watched it for that, watched it to watch the beautiful numbers that the professional dancers did and I think you miss Kai and Julia and Ryan for that reason as well.
“Their dancing was just so beautiful. I remember watching Guilia dance and my mouth would just drop at how stunningly amazing of a dancer she was.”
Ryan previously told how he had been living in a “dark shadow” which “deeply affected my mental health”.
He said in a post on Instagram: “I’ve been living under a dark shadow for the last three years which has deeply affected my mental health and caused what I now see as real damage to my well-being.”
And Ryan — who came second with Denise on the first series — claimed he was challenged over his weight by some individuals in 2019.
In an emotional Instagram post, he said: “I used to use my humour to deflect how I felt before someone could bring it up and call me ‘the fat one’.
“To be judged based on my size and not on my ability — from hurtful messages . . . has demoralised me and made me feel like I was worthless.”
Denise said she never knew the reality of what Ryan was feeling, saying: “I didn’t know what was going on. I had no idea.
“I’m all for people speaking their minds and speaking their truth and I think we need more of that. That is his truth.”
Ryan said at the time he was “inspired” to speak out by the “bravery” of men who opened up about their eating disorders on the recent RTE documentary Unspoken.
He added: “Having experienced first hand how I was treated by this industry . . . and the effects it’s had on me, I really hope it will stop happening to anyone again.
“Words have consequences and can hurt, and I hope that the people who have inflicted this damage never speak to their loved ones or children in the way that I’ve been spoken to,” he added at the time.
