Brian Redmond has conceded that he could be axed as a judge on Dancing With The Stars if the panel is reduced from four to three again.
The RTÉ show got a major shake-up this season when former pro dancer Karen Byrne left the dancefloor to join Brian, as well as Loraine Barry and Arthur Gourounlian, as a fourth judge.
He praised Karen for adding something fresh and added that she will be able to face any negativity for her scores if she meets fans on the street.
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Brian told RSVP Live: "If it ever goes back from four judges to three, it might be me [leaving the show], who knows?
"At least I can sit at home and watch it if it does. I have never had the privilege of watching it live on TV."
Brian's pay packet also remained the same this season despite on extra judge on the panel.
He said: "No pay cuts, we are all good."
Karen has been an instant hit since making the change.
Brian said: "It is sharing the load and the more you have on a judging panel the more average the scores will be. The highs and lows won’t matter as much and things are levelled out.
"I think it is absolutely brilliant that one of the pro dancers from the show is now a judge because they are part of the family. We know them, they know us and they know the show.
"She also understands the Irish psyche. The whole Ballyfermot thing has always been there with Karen, and it is still there.
"For me, personally, she is another person to ‘boo’ me when I give a two, and she has been booing me for seven seasons already. A different personality brings variety."
Brian has received negativity on the streets as fans of the show called him out for being too harsh in the past and he thinks that Karen will be fine if anyone meets her in public.
He said: "Karen is a strong and powerful woman, she doesn’t need advice from me when she gets out there. She has always been on the side of one celebrity on the show.
"But I am sure there have been dancers over the years she has looked at and said, ‘I don’t think that was great’ and she has never had to express that.
"People know Karen and they know that everything she says comes from a place of honesty. She might get a bit of criticism here and there, but that is going to happen regardless once you are on TV.
Brian has always been the toughest judge on the show with Arthur seen as the soft touch, but that has changed this season and Arthur gave a lower score than Brian on the first live show.
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He said: "I don’t think it has anything to do with Karen being on the panel. I think he has been drinking my tea, to be honest with you.
"It is a show, and it is the personal opinion of the judges. With four judges on the panel you are going to get a lot more variety than we had previously."
Brian's nice streak continued on Sunday when he said "From Brian, a nine" at the earliest point in all eight seasons for Danny O'Carroll's Charleston.
He said: "I can’t believe it. Off the top of my head, that’s the earliest score I have given by at least eight or nine weeks.
"That normally happens on week eight or nine. Everybody judges differently. For Danny, there was very little that he got wrong."
However, celebrity chef Kevin Dundon didn't see Brian's nice side and he received a score of just two from him. Does he ever feel bad scoring a celebrity so low on the show? "I never feel bad about the decision to give somebody a two, but I am always conscious of the fact that that’s their score from me.
"You have to be conscious that it is a person out there, so I always give a score that I feel is justified."
Dancing With The Stars airs Sunday nights at 6.30pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player
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