Dancing with the Stars contestant Gearóid Farrelly has said the reaction to his appearance on the show alongside his professional dance partner Stephen Vincent has been "really, really positive".
Despite having a low opinion of his natural dancing abilities, the comedian, podcaster and TV personality has hugely impressed the judging panel, and the audience at home, with his first two dances on the show.
In the opening episode he earned high praise from new judge Karen Byrne, who said his passionate Tango gave her "goosebumps", while Arthur Gourounlian said he "came here to slay" after an accomplished and upbeat Cha Cha Cha in last Sunday's show.
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Despite earning an excellent 28 points for both performances, which places them in a very respectable fifth position in the leaderboard ahead of the third episode, and first elimination, this weekend, Farrelly remains self-effacing about his dance abilities.
"No, not really!" he laughed. "It's only been two weeks that people are saying 'You're actually a good dancer'. I really don't think I am.
"And anyone that would watch the camera runs and the camera rehearsals, will know it wasn't great. I don't know what happened with that Cha Cha, I really don't know what happened."
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He continued: "I've always loved dancing, when I was a kid I did a couple of variety show things and when I was in my twenties I did some musicals, but I was always in the back line.
"The show asked if I had any footage of me in musicals. So I got my dad to dig something out of the attic and had a look. Sweet God Almighty.
"Everybody is doing the one thing and I'm doing something different! I think all of this is down to Stephen. I think he's just a brilliant teacher and he has a different way of teaching.
"My problem was always that I couldn’t remember the steps, remember the order of the steps. For some reason, I've never had to think about that when he's been teaching me.
"I don’t know why that is and I don't want to analyze it too much in case it all falls away.
"Everyone's surprised, I guess I’m surprised too!
The duo are set for a change of pace this weekend with an emotional Viennese Waltz to REM's Everybody Hurts.
Farrelly said the performance is likely to pull on the "heartstrings".
"I don't really do heartstrings, but this is a lovely one," he said. "My only problem with the Viennese Waltz so far is the level of spinning.
"There is so much spinning in it that I actually started, this may be cheating, but I started to wear travel bands. We keep having to stop rehearsals because I think I'm going to be sick!
"Stephen's done a great job of the choreography; it is really emotional. Even when we do it 10 times in the rehearsal room and I’m knackered, you get to the end bit and you go 'Aww'. It’s lovely."
Farrelly said he is "kind of shocked" by the reaction he has gotten from viewers as one half of a same-sex pairing on the show.
He explained: "The reaction that I'm most excited about is, I've had a couple of emails that have said, 'I watched the Tango and afterwards I told my parents that I'm gay'.
"It's been a little switch for people. I got a great message from a gay couple that got married a few years ago and they said 'We didn't dance at our wedding because we felt so self-conscious about it, so it's great to see two men dancing on television'.
"When you see hear something like that, you're like, oh my God. Because I have to forget that it's on telly in order to do it."
Farrelly said he had been asked to take part in the dancing competition before, but only agreed to come on-board this season when producers said he could dance with a man. This made his decision to join the line-up much more straightforward.
He said of the motivation to take part: "The chance is, I’m going to look stupid and silly, but if somebody wakes up on a Monday morning and feels a better about their situation, then it's worth looking a bit silly for.
"When I’ve got a different sort of agenda, it made stepping into this showman role slightly slightly easier."
As well as the positive feedback from viewers of the show, Farrelly has also been taken aback by the close bonds formed between the contestants and professional dancers.
"The big shock for me was that from watching the show, I assumed it must be absolutely cut-throat, that you want the other team dead! What has astonished me is how quickly and easily everyone gets on," he said.
"I'm so surprised by the level of camaraderie, but I'm also really surprised at how much I miss it. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed being in a big gang, all working on the same thing."
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