Head Dancing With The Stars judge Loraine Barry has opened up about struggling to make ends meet when she first started dancing.
But Loraine said she always believed in herself that she would become world champion someday.
Opening up about becoming a dancer, she said: “Of course, there was that fear of trepidation of, ‘How am I going to do this?’
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“My parents were hard working – my father was a taxi driver and my mother used to make wedding and communion dresses. They both really supported me as best they could.
“The fire was burning at this point and I think once you get a little bit of success, that fire burns brighter.
“I just knew I was going to become the world champion,” she told the RTE Guide.
Loraine reveals she used to sell the prizes she would win at dance competitions to get by.
“In the early ‘80s as an amateur dancer, you were not allowed to earn money and you were not allowed to teach dancing.
“So as a result, I would go away to try and get by.
“I danced at Check Point Charlie in East Berlin and I did lots of competitions in places like Dresden. I would win prizes like watches or fur coats and I would sell them to make money.
“I lived in London in Tooting Bec and for me at that point, it was all about earning enough money to pay the rent, to eat and to dance.”
When she turned professional in 1989, she owed the bank manager £12,000.
“But the bank manager believed in us; he had watched us dance and was a fan of dancing, so he gave us that line of credit to help us through.
“We told him that as soon as we turned professional, we would pay him back and we did. Every single penny,” she added.
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