While you might think a dance competition would be breeze to a two time Olympian, Jack Woolley admits that the Dancing with the Stars process has been more gruelling than he could have imagined.
The Taekwondo star says he struggled in the early days to make the transition from martial arts to dancing, revealing the mental challenge the competition has brought has been huge.
“Dancing is a lot different from Taekwondo which is very fitness-based. For dancing I have to use my brain a lot more. Remembering the steps is a lot more challenging mentally”, he told us.
“As the weeks go on I am picking up the choreography a lot quicker, it's not as draining physically, but mentally it is. I'm finding it a lot tougher. The hours are different too, very long. I would have done one and a half hour sessions with Taekwondo one or twice a day but with this it's like four or five hours straight through non stop.”
The athlete revealed that following an intense training session he previously relied on a nap to restore him, there was no napping allowed on his new schedule.
“That’s the biggest struggle for me. I don’t get to nap any more. Myself and Alex [Vladimirov] have found I can’t take breaks any longer than five minutes because my brain tends to shut down. So this is completely different from Taekwondo and I’m out of my comfort zone”, he added.
He also revealed that live shows are an intense all day affair, admitting the punishing schedule is tough going.
“The show goes live at half 6. And we're here all day. We are being rushed into hair, then grabbed for make-up. They need to change your costume, then you need to practise. You don’t have more than ten minutes all day to breathe on the day of live shows, so it is intense."
Despite the adjustment Jack has achieved some of the highest scores from the judges on DWTS in the opening weeks and also believes the mental growth he has experienced on the show could be the key in unlocking future Olympic success.
The 26-year-old was the first athlete to represent Ireland in Taekwondo at the Olympic Games — in Tokyo 2020 and Paris last year, however has yet to get a place on the podium.
But dance partner Alex joked that Dancing With the Stars is going to be the secret ingredient to success.
“I think Jack’s slogan has just been, ‘believe in yourself and be confident with what you know, because you’re good at this’,” said Vladimirov, who joined the show this year following five seasons on Australia’s Dancing with the Stars.
“It’s just getting that into his head. It’s very challenging for him to trust himself and love himself, but that’s what we’re working on, so hopefully that will help him in his future endeavours – and getting an Olympic medal.”
Jack agreed adding: “The dancing is helping me grow mentally, I'm still in my head a little bit and being a perfectionist, but I've seen massive improvements already."
The two time Irish Olympic taekwondo athlete added: “I've realised the growth I've made in such a short space of time and hopefully our journey isn't going to be cut short because to see the growth I've already made, it's just such an amazing feeling.
Jack and Alex became supervillains on Sunday night's Movie week, The Joker and Harley Quinn, for a Tango to Lady Gaga’s version of The Joker from last year’s Joker: Folie à Deux , as Elaine Crowley became the second celebrity eliminated from the show.
Dancing With The Stars airs Sunday nights at 6.30pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player
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