Glee star Damian McGinty who is set to make his Dancing With The Stars debut this weekend said it is his dream to one day be able to have a home in Ireland and the US.
The Derry-born singer and actor, who currently calls Nashville home with his wife, American actress Anna Claire Sneed, says he loves their life and his career in the States.
But the 30-year-old added: “Somedays I just pine for home and my mammy’s cooking like everyone else”.
Read more: Irish Glee star Damian McGinty already tipped to win Dancing With The Stars
McGinty, who has been travelling the world as a performer since the tender age of 14, after shooting to stardom as part of renowned group Celtic Thunder, told the Irish Mirror: “I try to get home multiple times a year. But I wish all the time that everything I know and love could be in the one place because it would just make it a lot easier.
“But that’s just not the way life goes. And my career is mainly US based, but there are a lot of great things happening at home now too, so it is the best of both worlds.”
The songwriter and screen star has had a fruitful career in the US, after he was catapulted to worldwide fame on screen in the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee later as a teen.
In 2011 he won the American reality TV show, The Glee Project, having been selected from 40,000 people to take part in the series, and went on to land the role of Rory Flanagan in the popular television series, which he played for three years.
He went on to star with his Glee co-star Heather Morris, who played Brittany, in Santa Fake, and more recently has been
busy working and performing his own music on stage nationwide, including his latest album, Moments.
But whilst his success continues Stateside, McGinty admits the pull for home never goes away, and told how it became even stronger over the past few years after Covid restrictions halted his ability to travel.
He said: “The 16-month period of not getting home, that felt like all of a sudden these things that I took for granted were stripped away and all of a sudden my hands were tied and it was the first time in my life, and there were a couple of moments I thought if something happens to someone back home, I physically can not get back.
“And that idea was really hard, I felt really cornered. It was this really strange feeling that a lot of people experience. Thank God nothing did happen, but it was just even the thought that God forbid if it did I wouldn’t be able to get home and that made it very real.
“And it does happen every now
and again when there are just days I pine for home and kind of want my Mammy’s cooking and very simple things.”
He now hopes to spend more time at home in the future, including creating a base here.
He said: “I’d say I’ll always be in between in some shape or fashion, especially now what dictates a lot of that is that my wife is American. So I’m in a marriage where it is just natural that we are going to spend time in the US and Ireland. But something we definitely want to do very soon is buy a property back home and have a home in Ireland where we can spend months at a time of the year. That is definitely something we have spoken about at length.
“That’s something we are trying to make happen.
“Obviously there are challenges with that, and the economic climate at the moment, but I definitely want to start spending a lot more time in Ireland and in terms of having a place and working there. It is obviously where I am from and where my family are and I miss it. But I am very fortunate to have a great thing across the Atlantic.”
He is set to make that dream to work at home more a reality as he is swapping the stage and screen in the States for a dance floor in Dublin on RTE’s new season of Dancing With The Stars this week.
And the singer has already been tipped to go the distance, leading the bookies’ favourites to win the whole show just days ahead of the first episode on Sunday. According to Ladbrokes, McGinty is currently the front-runner with odds of 3/1, followed by drag queen Panti Bliss
at 4/1.
Nicola McGeady from the firm said: “Glitterball fever is in full swing with the show set to kick off in just a matter of days.
Damian remains our favourite to win, but it’s still early days and with stars from the world of music, GAA, soccer and TV all set to take to the dancefloor, the trophy is still very much there for the taking!”
Irish soccer hero Stephanie Roche rounds off the top three at 9/2. Beauty guru Suzanne Jackson and comic Kevin McGahern are both currently tied at odds of 6/1, closely followed by Derry Girls star Leah O’Rourke at 7/1.
Last year’s Irish Eurovision hopeful Brooke Scullion is also in the mix at odds of 8/1, as is former state pathologist Marie Cassidy at 10/1.
Dublin GAA legend Paul Brogan is currently chalked-up at 12/1, while 2FM funny man Carl Mullan and Irish rugby legend Shane Byrne are sitting at 14/1 and 16/1 respectively.
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