Mickey Joe Harte's family think he's mad for signing up for Dancing With The Stars.
The singer/songwriter will be based in Dublin away from his Donegal home while competing on the RTÉ programme.
His second foray into a reality TV competition, after winning You're A Star in 2003, is very different because his youngest kids and his granddaughters weren't around back then.
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Mickey Joe told RSVP Magazine: "My family is very supportive, as you can imagine. I’ve two older kids and two younger kids and the younger kids weren’t around during my You’re A Star days.
"They were born around that time and of course they’ve seen videos and they know all about it, but they didn’t experience that buzz.
"My older kids, Kayleigh and Kyle, really enjoyed it – they were eight and 11 at the time. We’ve two little granddaughters now, so they’ll get a buzz out of me being on the show. Everyone is looking forward to the fun of it and they’re all supportive."
Life as a grandfather means less responsibility and more fun for Mickey Joe.
He said: "It’s the old cliché, you love when they come and you love when they go. They bring so much energy to the house.
"But they’re exhausting at the same time, there’s a reason you have kids when you’re young. We’re enjoying the newness of it all."
The Eurovision legend is based in Dublin while rehearsing and for the live shows.
He said: "I’m based in Dublin for as long as I need to be.
"It would be impossible to commute to Dublin from Donegal every day. I’ll be based here for as long as I’m in the competition."
Mickey Joe has found the training so far to be "intense".
"That’s the best word I could use," he said. "It’s full on and intense. There’s a lot to take in.
"December was really busy for me, so I was trying to manage gigging and rehearsing and I had a new single out. I’m exhausted."
Mickey Joe's pro partner Daniela Roze is new to the show this year.
He said: "She’s one of the four new pros. She’s half my age and she’s fantastic.
"She’s so together and she’s an absolute pro for such a young age. I was nowhere near being so together at 25. She’s very focused and she’s got a great work ethic, so I’m just trying to keep up with that."
Mickey Joe is no stranger to Dancing With The Stars, he sings on the German franchise of the show, Let’s Dance.
He said: "Yeah, I do vocals for some of the dances on the show. I’ve been doing that for a good few years now.
"A friend of mine is a producer and his team put together the music for the show. It started as a bit of fun, he would get me to record the tracks that suited my voice.
"Ever since Covid, I’ve been putting down the vocals from home. It’s cool to see your voice on the live shows during the routines."
Read the full interview and see our Dancing With The Stars special in this month's issue of RSVP Magazine
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