Eurovision winner Niamh Kavanagh is first celebrity announced for new Dancing With The Stars

FORMER EUROVISION WINNER Niamh Kavanagh has been named as the first contestant for RTÉ’s celebrity Dancing With The Stars, which returns next month.

The Dublin native is best known for winning the Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland with the ballad In Your Eyes in 1993

A total of 12 contestants for the new series’ lineup are to be revealed over the coming days. Each celeb is paired with a professional dancer and they must then master different dance routines each week.

On joining the cast, Kavanagh admitted that she has “very little experience” in formal choreography but looks forward to giving it a go.

When I did school shows I was mainly cast as a singer and mostly I was told to stay out of the way of other people until it was time for me to sing.

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Kavanagh added that the “glitz and glam side of things is probably the most difficult part for me”, explaining that her most experience with the getup expected for the programme is through local panto shows.

“I haven’t even had my ears pierced,” Kavanagh said.

“It would be a lie to say I’m not nervous, stepping into the unknown publicly brings its own nerves. However, what I mostly am is excited, I don’t have to be good at this but I’ll work hard to get as good as I can,” she added.

“However, I do love a dance, and I do obviously move on stage but I’m very economical these days.”

The show, which started in the UK but has seen an Irish version on RTÉ since 2017, is hosted by Jennifer Zamparelli and Laura Fox. 2FM presenter Fox is standing in for Doireann Garrihy while she is on leave.

It returns from Sunday 4 January on RTÉ One.

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