Limerick Traitors star earns place in Dancing with the Stars final with series-best score

LIMERICK Traitors Ireland star Paudie Moloney has secured a coveted spot in the Dancing with the Stars final after receiving his best score to date in the competition.

The Kilmallock man and his professional partner Laura Nolan performed two dances in the semi-final on Sunday, the first of which was an American Smooth. Their song was Cheek to Cheek from the movie Top Hat starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

During rehearsals, Laura brought in two balloons to help Paudie understand that he needed to fill the space and not have his arms close to his body. "Hopefully, I will be on my A-game and be able to do it justice," said Paudie.

Following the dance, judge Oti Mabuse said: "There is something very sweet and adorable about that number and you two together... I feel like there were parts where Laura was doing the heavy lifting, but I think that also makes you guys such a good team, and that's why we love you."

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Fellow judge Brian Redmond added that Paudie's dancing was quite "suave and sophisticated." "You rolled through the feet with effortless ease."

Paudie was "thrilled" with the dance and said he really enjoyed it. He received a score of 26 out of 40, his highest score of the series to date.

Laura said: "I think you can see that from the very beginning of this show to now, he's a completely different dancer than what I started dancing with. He's improved so much, and you can really see the amount of work and effort he's put in."

"He only told me actually on Monday that a few years ago, he wasn't able to cross a room walking, and now look at him up dancing and giving it his all."

Paudie then revealed that he had an operation on his back five years ago.

Paudie and Laura also danced a Samba to Psy’s groundbreaking K-Pop smash ‘Gangnam Style’ alongside trio partner Robert Rowiński. They received 24 points for this dance, racking up a total score of 50 out of a possible 80.

Paudie renamed 'Gangnam Style' as 'Granddad Style.'

Speaking following the dance, judge Oti Mabuse stated: "When they asked me to come to Ireland to come judge Dancing with the Stars, I thought I knew what I was stepping into, but I never thought I'd actually see that. It was fun. It was entertaining. It was carefree. I'm still very confused what I just saw but I feel like it's everything that you expect to get."