We are the champions! Paul Brady & Sharon Levy Valensi were the winners of the 2023 Castlerahan Strictly Come Dancing competition held in the Hotel Kilmore on Saturday night. They were presented with their trophies by John McGinn and Pauric Smith, event leaders. Photo: Lizzy Brady

Sharon and Paul crowned ‘Strictly’ queen and king

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Castlerathan was alive with music and dance last weekend as they hosted their Strictly Come Dancing fundraiser. The event, staged in the Hotel Kilmore, Cavan, attracted a huge crowd who watched 23 couples dancing to top hits. “I think I was in shock for the rest of the night,” laughed Sharon Levy Valensi, who won first place along with her dance partner, Paul Brady. “There were so many top acts in the top six, I wasn’t expecting our names to be called out at the end. I was shocked and relieved it was all done then!”

The couples had been learning their dance moves for several weeks before the show took place. “It was such a short period of time to learn so much but it was a really great experience,” continued Sharon. “I was really excited to get involved and be asked. I knew Leslie, the choreographer from before. I knew it was going to be a professional show.”

One of the shows organisers, John McGinn, was delighted with the fundraiser’s success.

“The weekend went fantastic. There was a huge crowd and the show went off without a hitch and we had a very successful fundraiser. We set out four months ago to run that project and it went off very, very well. It was a lot of work but we had great support from our dancers.”

The dancers alone raised in excess of €120,000 through sponsorship and ticket sales.

For more photos, see page 28 of this week's print edition.

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