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Dublin Live
National
Kim O'Leary

Jennifer Zamparelli breaks silence after Nicky Byrne quits Dancing With The Stars

Dancing With the Stars host Jennifer Zamparelli has broken her silence after Nicky Byrne's sudden exit from the beloved show.

On Thursday, Dublin star Nicky confirmed that he was leaving the show due to his commitments with Westlife, with their world tour running until summer 2023. Nicky joined Dancing with the Stars for its first season in 2017.

Taking to Twitter, Jennifer, who has co-hosted the RTE show alongside Nicky since 2019, praised Nicky and wished him the best with his future Westlife gigs. She wrote: "Ah such a pleasure to work with you! Always a gent always very giving as a co host and you will surely be missed.

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"Best of luck with the tour!!!" She also joked: "Any tickets goin for Westlife?"

RTE bosses confirmed that Nicky's replacement will be announced in the coming months. Nicky yesterday said: "Hey all, A little news from me. Sadly I will be stepping away from hosting Dancing with the Stars on RTÉ.

"Westlife are now ten shows into our Wild Dreams tour. We had two phenomenal nights at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium followed by a mind blowing show at Wembley Stadium and two absolutely sensational nights at Cork’s Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

"This tour continues now taking us around the world including five continents with 60 plus shows up until Summer 2023. So with all this in mind, I have had to make some tough decisions.

"One of them is my future hosting Dancing With The Stars on RTÉ - a show I have loved hosting from the very beginning. I have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of this show, full of glitz n’ glamour and of course, being a part of everyone’s Sunday night winter TV viewing.

The Dubliner said he has "smiled and laughed my way through those 59 shows to date and what a journey it’s been." He added: "I take away the greatest memories.

"Thank you Amanda and Jennifer and of course Lottie for stepping in. Thank you RTÉ. Thank you to the amazing team in ShinAwiL.

"Thank you to Loraine, Brian, Arthur and Julian and all of the professional dancers. Thank you to the crew of hundreds who made all of those shows special.

"I wish whoever takes over from me the absolute best. Just don’t fall down that stairs at the start of the show!! You’ll have an absolute blast," he added.

Meanwhile, a flood of tributes poured in from friends and fans after Nicky revealed his shock departure from the show. Jedward said: "Nicky you gotta keep flying without wings up up and away congratulations and pats on the back for always bringing it on the show Irish presenter legend!"

Love Island star Matthew MacNabb, who competed in the last series of DWTS, said: "Ahh sad one but glad I got your last season big man! Best of luck with everything!"

Westlife made their big comeback after the Covid-19 pandemic earlier this summer, where they played a string of homecoming dates in Dublin's Aviva Stadium and Cork's Pairc Ui Chaoimh to the delight of their fans.

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