Love/Hate actor Johnny Ward quick-steps into week four of 'Dancing With The Stars' with a smooth foxtrot at the weekend

By Kim O'Leary

The stakes have risen even higher on “Dancing With the Stars” following an intense weekend of dancing which saw Mrs Browns Boys’ comedian Eilish O’Carroll the first celebrity to be eliminated from the show, while Love/Hate actor and former student of MVW Talent Agency Johnny Ward has progressed to week four of the competition.

However, with the competition now under way in earnest the third week of the show was distinguished by a number of technical glitches as the screens cut to black several times.

The show was interrupted by a power outage 90 minutes into the show just after former Love/Hate actor Johnny Ward and his dance partner Emily Barker completed their smooth yet creative foxtrot. Johnny was handsome in a glittering grey shirt and trousers while Emily was radiant in an orange summery gown.

Fair City and Love/Hate star Johnny Ward, originally from Walkinstown in Dublin, is the brother-in-law of Maureen Ward the founder of Maureen V Ward Talent Agency Ireland and Talented Kids Performing Arts School, and the talented actor also has a strong link to Kildare having taught classes in Kilcullen.

However, television screens were plunged into darkness just after 8pm on Sunday January 20, and RTE bosses back in Donnybrook were forced to give viewers a preview of the week’s programmes as they battled to fix the glitch which lasted for several minutes.

As engineers managed to get the power back on, Johnny and partner Emily received their scores from the judges Brian Redmond, Lorraine Barry and Julian Benson. The duo received a good score of 19 points for their performance, although there was some criticism from Brian Redmond who felt that their foxtrot was ‘too contemporary.’

The duo were knocked off their place on the leader board by a powerhouse performance from Mairead Ronan and her pro dance partner John Nolan who kick-started the show with a red hot Charleston, earning praise from the judges and top place on the leader board with a score of 24 points.

Claiming the second place on the leader board was Fred Cooke and his partner Giulia Dotta danced the Charleston to ‘Right Said Fred’ which was the clear crowd favourite on the night and earned them a whopping 23 points from the judges.

However, comedian Eilish O’Carroll’s sultry samba with dance partner Ryan McShane failed to win favour with the viewers at home despite impressing the judges and they were the first to be eliminated from the show.

Johnny and Emily need as much support as possible to continue their journey on the show and Kildare viewers can help by voting for them when they next appear on the show "Dancing With the Stars" this coming Sunday January 27 at 6.30pm on RTE One.