The Dark Knight rises! Love/Hate actor Johnny Ward embraces his 'inner hero' for Movie Night at the weekend on 'Dancing With The Stars'

By Kim O'Leary

It was literally a night at the movies for the celebrities participating on this year’s ‘Dancing With The Stars’ at the weekend as they sought inspiration from heroes and villains alike, and former Miss Ireland cHolly Carpenter was the second celebrity to be eliminated from the show.

The show started off with Clióna Hagan and her partner Robert Rowiński performing a lively jive to their Legally Blonde theme, whilst former Miss Ireland Holly Carpenter and dance partner Trent Whiddon did the foxtrot on a Beauty and the Beast theme.

Next up it was Top Gun for All-Ireland winner Denis Bastick and his dance partner Milova and the duo confessed that they had been finding the tango a bit tricky early on in the week, while The Young Offenders actress Demi Isaac Oviawe and her partner Kai Widdrington gave a solid performance inspired by the Dream Girls movie.

Johnny Ward and Emily Barker danced a Viennese Waltz from Batman Forever and before the performance admitted that they had been practicing ‘11 hours a day’ in a bid to stay in the competition. "I hope to do Batman proud," said Johnny and he certainly showed off his Batman fan credentials with a shrine in his parent’s attic before launching into a dynamic waltz.

The three judges were very impressed with their performance and judge Brian Redmond thought the opening was "really athletic" but "the bending of the legs was a little bit more Penguin than Batman."

Julian Benson dubbed it "a box office gold performance" while Loraine Barry said they had witnessed " a blockbuster performance” from the actor who had joked that he was too short to be considered for the iconic role of Batman.

However, the duo scored two eights and a nine to bring them to a total of 25 points, just behind Clelia Murphy and her pro-dancing partner Vitali Kozmin as they delivered a rhythmic salsa to ‘Saturday Night Fever’, topping the leaderboard with two nines and an eight to give a total of 26 points.

Unfortunately, Holly Carpenter and dance partner Trent Whiddon’s Beauty and The Beast foxtrot failed to secure enough votes from the public and they were the second act to be eliminated from the competition, leaving just nine contestants and their partners to battle it out to be crowned the overall winner of ‘Dancing With The Stars’.

Next week the theme will be 'Most Memorable Year' where the stars get to pick a song from a standout moment in their lives this Sunday February 3 at 6.30pm on RTE One. The following week things will be quite literally shaken up with each celebrity partnering up with a different professional dancer temporarily and this year the public can choose who dances with who by going to www.rte.ie/DWTS.