Dancing With The Stars: Karen and John perform with their dance partners

Two local professional dancers gave their first performances in the new series of RTÉ’s ‘Dancing with the Stars’ on Sunday evening.

Now in its fifth series, the dancing competition pairs established professional dancers with well-known faces from the world of entertainment and sport in a bid to win the coveted glitterball trophy.

Among the professional dancers is Ballyfermot native and Lucan resident Karen Byrne, and Tallaght resident John Nolan.

Cyclist and former Olympian Nicolas Roche has been partnered with Karen Byrne, who previously won the second series of the show alongside her partner Jake Carter.

On Sunday night, Nicolas and Karen gave a well-received jive performance to ‘Blinding Lights’, which netted them a score of 11 from judges Loraine Barry, Brian Redmond and Arthur Gourounlian.

Loraine said: “To get jive, it is a tough dance but it’s also a great dance.

“It just needed a bit more foot pressure – keep it going with Karen and keep it going with the music. Back to the floorboards on Monday…”

Speaking to Nicolas, Brian said: “When you are out on the bike on your own, you can pedal at your own pace, [but] when you are on a tandem, if you are out of sync, you are going nowhere.

“A lot of work to do technically in terms [of] trying to improve that dancing.”

TV Presenter Grainne Seoige and John Nolan

Television presenter Gráinne Seoige is being put through her paces by John Nolan, who is a national ballroom and showdance champion.

He is also a teacher in the Cookstown-based Xquisite Dance school.

The duo received a score of 14 from the judges after they danced a waltz to ‘With You I’m Born Again’.

Arthur said: “This reminded me of a scene from an old French movie – think of Grace Kelly. I can tell you really enjoyed it. You could be my femme fatale.”

Dance partner John Nolan said he “couldn’t be more proud” of Gráinne.

None of the dancers will be eliminated until the third show. However, votes from show one and show two of ‘Dancing with the Stars’ will be carried over to show three for the elimination.

‘Dancing with the Stars’ is on RTÉ One on Sunday at 6.30pm.