Dancer with Limerick roots takes DWTS final

 IT was third time lucky for professional dancer John Nolan when he and his celebrity dance partner, Máiréad Ronan, walked away with the Glitter Ball trophy on the finale of Dancing with the Stars. 

John, who has West Limerick connections, had appeared twice before on the popular RTE programme, and made it to the final with Deirdre O’Kane last year. 

“Still shocked,” he said this Monday morning, talking to Ryan Tubridy. “It’s still surreal.”

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And #TeamMoJo have done it! @dwtsirl John Nolan and presenter Mairead Ronan have won the coveted Glitter Ball! What an amazing night of entertainment John’s mum, aunt and uncle are from Ballyhahill, County Limerick Go John and Mairead!

A post shared by Limerick Leader Newspaper (@limerickleader) on Mar 25, 2019 at 5:39am PDT

He also revealed that when he woke this morning, he “bawled” crying in a huge release of emotion. 

It has been a very intensive four months for Kilkenny-born John, whose mother Joan Trant is from Monomohill, Ballyhahill and who has an aunt, Mary Ann and uncle, Denis, still living there. 

When he was first teamed up with broadcaster Máiréad last December, he told the Limerick Leader “she had never danced a day in her life.” 

“This is totally outside her comfort zone but she is unbelievable,” he said. “She is such a hard worker, such a dedicated person in every aspect of her life.”  

But he was absolutely convinced that Máiréad had what it takes to win. 

And he was right. Their three performances Sunday night earned them the popular vote and the ultimate prize, the Glitter Ball. 

John started out doing Irish dancing but a ballroom dancing class at a very young age changed all that. He took part in competitions for several years but now teaches at  the Exquisite Dance school in Dublin and is also an  an adjudicator and choreographer.