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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Entertainment
Sandra Mallon

Aslan star Billy McGuinness fails to make it through to Dancing With The Stars quarter finals

BILLY McGuinness and his pro dance partner Hannah Kelly have missed out on making it to the show's quarter final - as they become the latest couple to be booted off Dancing With The Stars.

The much-loved bubbly duo were voted out of the competition, after the 61-year-old Aslan star was voted out of the Rte One show when he ended up in the dance off against Jordan Conroy and Salome Chaxchua.

It was the second week Jordan ended up in the dance off - but he was once again saved by judges Brian Redmond, Arthur Gourounlian and Loraine Barry.

An injured Billy, who tore his calf muscle, danced the energetic Charleston with Hannah.

Aslan's Billy Mc Guinness and Hannah Kelly during the Dancing With The Stars (Kyran O'Brien)

And even with a torn calf muscle in two places, Billy scored his highest score of 20 points on the series earlier in the night.

"I had every excuse not to dance tonight and I thought it was very unfair... so I'm glad I did," he said.

Speaking after being voted out of the competiton, the Aslan star said: "I'm going to miss you guys. I expected to last maybe one week, two weeks.. here we are week nine."

He said his job was done if he was able to entertain people, thankin the crew and eveyrbone backstage.

"It's been more than I expected," he added.

He said Hannah has "guided me through the nine weeks."

It was the second time rugby seven's star Jordan Conroy ended up in the dreaded dance off with his pro dance partner Salome Chachua.

The pair previously scored 24 points for their samba.

Aslan's (L to R) Christy Dignam and Billy McGuinness (Gareth Chaney/Collins)

Love Island's Matthew MacNaab and his pro dance partner Laura Nolan opened the show dancing the American Smmoth.

Matthew had previously revealed he was dating a mystery woman and the Antrim native was teased over his new love interest.

Scoring the couple 22 points, the judges teased the Antrim native, with judge Arthur joked the chemistry between Matthew and Laura was "florishing", saying the pair were "perfect for each other", teasing Matthew's new girlfriend was Laura.

Brian, who was celebrating his birthday on the show, added: "A happier boy this week, I'm not sure if it was the smell of the spring flowers or something else," he joked.

Host Nicky Byrne even got in on the jokes, asking Laura if Arthur was right when he said they were "perfect" for each other.

She laughed: "On the dance floor absolutely," Laura quipped.

Champion jockey Nina Carberry danced a lively Charleston with her pro dance partner Pasquale La Rocca.

Nina revealed she suffered a knee injury, which "took the power out of her". Medics had to see her on Friday night to ensure she could dance on Sunday night.

Pasquale said: "QIt was a lot of pressure, but I think she's been amazing."

Judge Arthur said he was running out of words from his English vocabulary to compliment her, saying she wasn"outstanding".

Brian said "nobody can e perfect all of the time", criticisng some of her dance moves - as he was booed from the audience.

"It's only a bit of a small blip", he added.

Loraine added the dance took a lot of energy out of her, but said it was "a groovy baby number".

The pair scored 26 points.

Returning to the dance floor after contracting Covid-19, pro cyclist Nicolas Roche scored 21 points for his tango with pro dance partner Karen Byrne - the highest score for the pair on the series.

Brian said his performance had to be "commended" after not being able to dance together for almost two weeks with very little work together.

Loraine said it was a "very chic and stylish" tango, while Arthur said their dance was "intense, moody and dark."

Paralympian Ellen Keane, who has been announced as this year's St Patrick's Day Grand Marshal, and her pro dance partner Stephen Vincent danced the quickstep, scoring 27 points.

Ellen said the quickstep was her "biggest challenge".

Swimmer Ellen Keane and Stephen Vincent during the Dancing With The Stars live show (Kyran O'Brien)

Loraine said she did a "great job", saying it was a "flighty and light quickstep".

Singer Erica Cody danced a spine tingling contemporary dance this weekend without her pro dance partner Denys Samson, who tested positive for Covid-19.

Pro dancer Ervinas Merfeldas stepped in to take over last minute with only two days to learn the beautiful dance as Erica dedicated their performance to all of Denys' friends and family in Ukraine.

Arthur said her whole demeanour was "on point", saying it was a powerful way to end the show, while Loraine and Brian praised their performance.

The couple scored 29 points.

Spotted in the audience was pro dancer Kai Widdrington and Des Bishop. Kai quit the show this series but was a finalist on Strictly Come Dancing in the UK.

The 26-year-old has been touring with his Strictly crew but shared a snap of himself back in the RTE studio.

Taking to social media, Kai was all smiles in a dapper three piece suit.

He captioned the photo: "Back to where it all started @dwtsirl good luck tonight to everyone".

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