Fair City star Johnny Ward has confirmed that he is in a relationship with his former Dancing with the Stars partner Emily Barker.
Rumours began to circulate that the couple were seeing each other when they were spotted on the red carpet together last year following Johnny's split with his girlfriend of six years, Rachel Tracey.
And despite saying that they were just friends at the time, they are now officially dating, RSVP Live reports.
They revealed in a joint statement to the Irish Sun: "We formed a great friendship when coupled up for Dancing With the Stars last year, during what turned out to be an extremely tough time for Johnny with the death of his father as the series was coming to an end.
"Towards the end of last year, things developed between us, and we are now very happy together. We are looking forward to seeing what the future holds."
Dubliner Johnny and Nottingham native Emily were runners up in Dancing with the Stars last year, losing out to RTE presenter Mairead Ronan and pro dancer John Nolan.
Johnny turned up on the set of Dancing with the Stars last week to support his girlfriend as she danced with her new partner, Kilkenny hurley Aidan Fogarty.
He previously said Emily was a great support to him after his father passed away from cancer during the run of the show.
"Emily became a counsellor to me during my dad’s last days, she didn’t have a choice.
"And when the finals of Dancing with the Stars were over, I felt like I had run a marathon and run too much. Myself and Emily got asked to go to all these events together, like Julian Benson’s ball, and were hanging out together like dancers and their partners."
