Kevin bows out on high note

While he said he was disappointed to get eliminated from Dancing with the Stars at the semi final stage, Kevin McGahern said he was delighted to have gotten to this stage.

“I got a lot further than I thought I was going to get. My only aim was to not get knocked out in the first round. So everything was a bonus. I felt we gave it our all, especially with the last dance. I would have been disappointed I went out last week, because I didn't enjoy it at all. I found it incredibly stressful, and I didn't do my best dance. I would have hated to go out on the low note. We give it a great shake. I was I was happy to go on a high note.”

In the latter stages of the competition contestants had to do two dances a week, this was something Kevin said he found to be stressful.

“I found learning two dances a week to be very stressful, I can learn one dance a week. It's fine. It's in your head, and it's in your legs. But I found when they introduced two days a week I felt it was so stressful, it was hard not to get mixed up with steps and stuff.”

He also paid tribute to his dance partner Laura Nolan for helping him throughout the series.

“I couldn't have asked for a better partner. Laura was just an incredible teacher, and we became great friends there were times where I was really struggling mentally with the pressure of it. She was very good at sort of calming me down and put me in the right mind. I was more disappointed for her than it was for me.”

He also said he is focusing on the positive outcomes of the show.

“You have to look at the positives. As well as getting further than I planned, I wanted to get you know, I lost a bit of weight you know, sort of boosted my profile a bit and they're all very positive things.”

While he doesn’t foresee a career in dancing, he says learning to dance can be beneficial.

“Career wise, I don't think it'd be something I'd be pushing towards. But I think it's always good. It's always good to add new skills and to challenge yourself in new areas, because it definitely challenged me. I think it won't hurt for people to see me in a different light. If I was involved in stage work where if it's required that you do a few moves it's nice to get to be able to show people that I could do that.”

Kevin said he was amazed by the support he got, especially from his home county.

“I was just I was blown away by the sheer amount of support I got especially from the people of Cavan. I have never played football so I don't know what it's like to have people in the stands cheering for you, but I definitely felt like I could understand what that feeling was like.”

Kevin and Laura are set to act as Grand Marshal in the Cavan St. Patricks Day Parade. He says that while he is disappointed to be eliminated, it will let him to enjoy the parade more.

“It would have been nice to be in the final. But the first thing I thought about when we didn't get through was I'll be able to enjoy Paddy’s day. Otherwise, we would have been arriving late the night before in Cavan town, been up at half seven for training. Then we would have shook a few hands, and been on the road again. It wouldn't have been much fun. Now I can go with my family. I can enjoy myself and spend a bit of time catching up with friends and talking to people and have a lovely relaxing day.”