Gearóid Farrelly says his boyfriend has been a great support to him during Dancing With The Stars.
The comedian is paired up with Stephen Vincent in a same sex couple for this year’s series of the hit RTE show and is motivated to do well by his other half.
Gearóid says he and his partner are from “very different worlds” and didn’t meet on the comedy or showbiz scene, but he is his number one supporter.
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He told RSVP Live: “He’s great. We’re from very different worlds, he’s a scientist.
“But he’s absolutely brilliant and definitely great regarding all of my shows. He’s driving me all over the place.
“He’s also putting up with the fact we can’t get through a TV show together at the moment. I come in from dancing, I sit down and within about 10 mins I’m fast asleep on the couch.
“Our relationship at the moment is him waking me and telling me to go have a bath, or go to bed. He’s the best.”
Gearóid has been impressing viewers at home with his skills on the dance floor, and is delighted to say he has received such a positive response from the public, something he was a bit nervous about when he initially signed up.
But the funnyman decided to sign up to give LGBTQ+ people representation on mainstream television.
He told us: “I’ve been getting lovely messages. The reaction has been really, really positive.
“It’s strange, because I was asked to do the show before, and it wasn’t that I had any problem with the show because I’ve always watched it, I just thought it wasn’t for me and it was too out of my comfort zone.
“I don’t consider myself a showman. I even look at the press photos and I’m like, ‘God Gearóid, just smile!’ [laughs].
“The reason I did it was that I thought if I danced with another man, the chances are I’ll look stupid and silly, but if somebody wakes up on a Monday morning and feels a bit better about their situation, it’s worth looking a bit silly for.
“With a different agenda, it made stepping into this showman role easier.”
Gearóid is thrilled with the public’s response, but as a comedian knows all too well about the dark side of social media and Internet trolls. He has learned how to deal with nasty comments online over the years.
He said: “In the early days of Twitter, I was on the last season of The Panel. That was kind of open season ,where everyone felt they could say what they wanted because nobody realised the effects of all of that stuff.
“I have a rule around social media, and it has always stood me in good stead. If you get something negative, look at the person’s profile, and within ten posts you’ll find a reason they’ve said that, or a reason to completely dismiss what they said.
“I remember one person sent me a vicious comment years ago when I was touring the UK. Three tweets in, he wrote, ‘Geri Halliwell’s Scream If You Wanna Go Faster album didn’t get what it deserved’. And I just thought, ‘I can dismiss everything you said’.”
Gearóid has been on the comedy and podcasting scene for many years now, but Dancing With The Stars is a brand new platform and he is getting recognised more when out in public.
“I am getting recognised quite a bit now. It’s always when you’re just nipping out to the shops that you get stopped for a selfie,” he said.
“I met this woman on Grafton Street who told me, ‘I think it’s great you’re doing Dancing With The Stars and dancing with a man. It’s great they picked you because you’re ordinary’. I was like… thanks [laughs].
“I think what she meant they didn’t get one of the hot muscly power gays. You wouldn’t want to be sensitive! Ah no, she was really funny and really nice. I was like, ‘I know love, I have a mirror!’.”
Dancing With The Stars airs Sunday nights at 6.30pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player
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