Traitors' Paudie Moloney opens up on online backlash ahead of DWTS final
Traitors Ireland star Paudie Moloney has addressed an online backlash which claims he shouldn’t be in the Dancing With The Stars final.
The 68-year-old grandfather is hoping to lift the glitterball trophy on Sunday night with his pro dance partner, Laura Nolan, but faces stiff competition from Eric Roberts, Katelyn Cummins, and Tolu Makay.
And Paudie has been forced to defend his spot in the final after some viewers have been posting that he shouldn’t have made it to the last four.
Paudie Moloney and Laura Nolan. Pic: Barry McCall
Speaking about the hurtful comments, Paudie said: ‘I’ve said this before. I don’t really read that, and I haven’t paid much attention to it. What I will say is nobody has come up to me in the street and said something negative. It has all been positive.
‘I don’t read [those] opinions. They are like noses – everybody has one. It’s called freedom of speech. And thank God we have it. People are entitled to speak. I just don’t have to listen. That’s how I see it.’
The former prison officer said he would love to win the show, but added: ‘I don’t fancy my chances. I would say I am where I should be: as an outsider in a four-horse race. But what I am going to do is enjoy it.’
Paudie Moloney and Laura Nolan. Pic: Kyran O’Brien /kobpix
The Limerick man also said Dancing With The Stars was an ‘entertainment show’, not a dancing show.
‘I’ve come here not with any expectation of winning this competition, I came here to enjoy it and to entertain,’ he added. ‘And that’s what I’m trying to do, to the best of my ability, which isn’t, I mean, I’m never going to be 21 again and jumping around the floor or whatever the case may be.
‘I’m just doing it to the best of my ability. And people are liking it. The amount of people that approached me just this morning… it was just phenomenal. The amount of good will and the amount of support I’m getting, and not one of them had a negative word to say.’
His dance partner, Laura, then jumped in, saying: ‘You have amateur and professional competitors, and both of them are great in their own fields, but they’re never directly compared. But in this show, they’re directly compared, and people need to remember that. You know that this is an entertainment show, and everyone brings their own thing to it.
‘The public have been voting to keep him in the show. So clearly there’s an appetite to continue watching him.’
This Sunday night, the four couples will dance two routines. First, each will perform a dance selected by the judges. Paudie and Laura will throw back to Country Week with a Quickstep to Stop The World And Let Me Off by Declan Nerney.
The couples will follow that with a freestyle performance that allows them to combine different dance styles. Paudie and Laura will dance to the Andy Williams classic Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.
