Paralympic swimmer Ellen Keane has revealed her boyfriend is delighted to have her back after three months on Dancing With The Stars.
But the 27-year-old finalist in the RTE series last month said winning back the affections of her beloved dog Denny is top of her list of priorities.
The Dubliner, who is dating international table tennis player and coach Gavin Maguire, told the Irish Mirror: “The first day after the show ended he said, ‘Oh my God you are back. You haven’t been present for the past three months’.”
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And he wasn’t the only one to miss her when she was busy rehearsing for the live dance show as Denny also started to adapt to life without his mum around.
Ellen joked: “Even my dog. Because my dog was obsessed with me before the show and then like during the show he was following my boyfriend around and I was thinking, ‘Why does he not love me any more?’
“But now he’s getting excited with me again and I’m spending more time with him. I’m winning his love back.”
The gold medallist was speaking as she stepped out for the glitzy Downton Abbey: A New Era movie premiere in Dublin this week, with her proud mother Laura on her arm.
Embracing the new celebrity lifestyle that has come since the show, Laura gushed: “I could get used to this.”
Meanwhile Ellen, who sported her hair slicked back with a bold red lip for the star-studded event, said she was already back to the intensity of her training regime before making a dash to walk the red carpet.
She added: “Oh yeah, I had three training sessions.
“I’d two swims and a gym so I had to get my dad to collect me and I was in the back of the car getting ready. I had no mirror with me so I was using the front camera on my phone and every two seconds if the car stopped I was like, ‘OK, right, red lip’.
“Like my hair looks so sleek but it’s actually wet.
“It’s so funny because when you do a show like Dancing With The Stars you pick up so many quick little make-up tricks and little hair tricks.
“And even my boyfriend was like, ‘you look so much better’.”
Having catapulted to fame for her talents in the pool and as an advocate for people with disabilities, Ellen feels the dance show has opened up new opportunities for the public to know the real her.
The Paralympian swimmer, who was born without a left arm, said: “I think a lot of people know me from sports and as a disability advocate so my personality never came across.
“So I think it got people more of a chance to get to know me and to see me as a person rather than just an athlete, which was really good.
“And it is so sweet, people are coming up to me, it is really lovely.
“I’m still trying to enjoy these little perks that come with it and then getting in the routine of training again.
“I had my first competition last week and it was very fast.
“It was good to get into the routine.
“I’ve got two world championships in June so I’m going away on a training camp in Fuerteventura at the end of May and that’s back to normal then.”
Downton Abbey: A New Era went on general release in cinemas across Ireland from yesterday.
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