Dancing with the Stars contestant Rosanna Davison has admitted that she felt "overwhelmed" while dancing to her father Chris De Burgh’s Lady in Red on Sunday’s show.
Rosanna and pro dancer partner Stephen Vincent performed a Rumba to the song - inspired by her mother Diane - which was a huge hit in 1986 for her father, in tribute to his fifty years in the music industry.
Both of her parents were in the audience, and afterwards she said: "I felt overwhelmed. I think I still do. This feeling might not sink in until tonight or tomorrow.
"It's been a great day, an emotional day, and everyone has worked so hard this week to make their dance special, because obviously we were dedicating it to our loved ones.
And it just felt incredibly special to have my parents there watching, to be marking my dad's 50 years in the music business this year. I just felt overwhelmed and incredibly grateful as well."
None of the contestants were eliminated on Sunday’s episode, and Rosanna is hoping to avoid the chop for another few weeks at least.
But she’s taking nothing for granted. "I'm very grateful to still be here heading into Week 7. And you know, I just really try to be myself on the show to let my personality out, to connect with the viewers that way.
"Also I'm a mum, so perhaps the other parents out there sort of relate to the juggle that I'm going through with looking after small children and dedicating so much time to rehearsals every week.
"Maybe it's a combination of those factors. I'm trying to be myself and I think it's clear that I'm really enjoying the process as well and really enjoying getting better every week, learning a new dance and just having the time of my life.
"So hopefully that's been clear to viewers."
And although she’s enjoying her time on Dancing with the Stars, she readily concedes that it’s quite a balancing act to put in rehearsal time during the week, while also being a parent - and maintaining a relationship.
"It is non-stop," she concedes. "It can be difficult. I don't think we've had a dinner date since September since my husband turned 40.
"But you know, we're married 10 years this year, we've been together for 17 years so we work together as a really good team and we know that after all this is done with the show, we'll have more time for family time and I'm looking forward to that.
"At the moment Wes has been incredibly supportive. He takes over on Saturday night and through Sundays, looks after the kids at home. And orders me pizza then when I get home on a Sunday night. So that's always a bonus!"
Like many contestants in the past, Rosanna sees a lot of positives from participating in Dancing with the Stars. She's also discovered that she’s a much better dancer than she thought she was.
In that respect, she’s gone and proved her family wrong.
"A huge amount of growth happens on this show, well for me anyway," she says. "And I've spoken about this before that I had zero confidence in my ability to dance when I began this show.
"My family had always made it very clear that I had no rhythm and no moves, and always let me know that at family weddings and parties.
"So I started off feeling very nervous about the idea of dancing on TV, but really trying to push myself out of my comfort zone, feel all the terrifying feelings every week.
"I find that over the last few weeks, I have become more confident. I still get butterflies when I go out there."
It may be stating the obvious. But Rosanna points out: "The only way to gain experience dancing live on TV is to dance live on TV.
"There's no other way around it, so no amount of rehearsals at the beginning before the first show could have prepared us for how it feels to actually be out on the floor and to the judges and the audience.
I think the main thing is I'm really enjoying the experience, I'm really enjoying the challenge of a new dance every week. Our dance this week, the rumba, was very different to last week's Charleston. Very technical.
"Even the judges mentioned that the rumba is difficult. So it's been an intense week of learning this new dance and learning how to dance. So I'm just really proud of myself for getting through it."
Rosanna was also keen to point out the amount of effort involved in getting things right each week. They may be dancing for a just a couple of minutes on the show, but there’s an awful lot of blood, sweat and tears to be shed.
But she admits that it’s all worth it in the end, when you manage to put in a good performance and get positive feedback from the Dancing with the Stars judges.
"It's always such a rewarding feeling to put in the hours, and I mean we're rehearsing minimum 25 hours a week, Monday to Friday.
"And then we do dress rehearsals on Saturday and then the full day on Sunday and a few runs at the dance. To put in the hours and the mental, physical and emotional energy into the routine, but then have that feedback, that's all you want.
"That's what you're working hard for. It's incredibly rewarding and it's the same sort of feeling every week."
And there’s no time to relax. Rosanna and the rest of the contestants begin again every Monday, building towards the following Sunday’s show. There’s little time for reflection.
"It's the same roller coaster of emotions where I go in on a Monday, you're a little bit tired," she says. "You're coming down from the adrenaline from the Sunday night, and you have to start off a whole new routine again. And then come Tuesday, the routine is starting to piece together.
"But I find Tuesday is quite frustrating because the routine is there, the bones of it are there, but it's not quite in place. But something happens between Wednesday and Thursday, where the routine comes together, and then you have Friday, Saturday to really perfect it and get a performance ready.
"There's no margins for error during the week," she adds. "There's no room for a day off if you're not feeling like it. We have our little coffee breaks during the day, from rehearsals, but apart from that, it's just full steam ahead.
"There's no way around it. You have to put in the hard work if you want to see the results."
Dancing with the Stars continues on Sundays on RTÉ One
