Nobody's more surprised that he's still on the show than Danny O'Carroll - and the Mrs Brown's Boys actor admits that his Sunday evenings on Dancing with the Stars are "nerve-wracking".
But he also insists that he's enjoying "every week as it comes".
The thing about being on a show like this is that it's more than a full-time gig while you're involved. It basically takes over your life. What the viewers see on a Sunday evening is the culmination of an intense week of preparation and training, endless rehearsal.
As Danny points out: "At this stage, we're now doing two dances every Sunday, which means the daily rehearsals are even longer."
This week's episode will see Danny and his pro dancer Salome Chachua bringing the heat with a Salsa to Lionel Richie's All Night Long. Should the pair survive tonight, they'll be just two episodes away from dancing for a place in this year's final.
Smiling broadly, Danny readily admits that getting this far wasn't on his personal Dancing with the Stars bingo card.
"I didn’t really have goal coming into it, to be honest," he says. "But I thought if I could get as far as show six, I could go out with my head held high. I thought that would be amazing for me.
"Being here for show eight, there’s nobody more surprised than me. I’m just taking each week as it comes. I’m not expecting anything. I’m just enjoying every week as it comes.
"Whether I move on after this week, I don’t know. But I don’t care. I’m absolutely exhausted. It’ll be happy days if I get home to see my kids."
He might not be getting back to his home in Donegal as much as he'd like, but that's given the general Dublin public more opportunities to spot him in the street and wish him all the best or make remarks about his dancing.
Obviously, being spotted and getting approached in public is something he's grown accustomed to over the years, thanks to his role as Buster on the much-loved Mrs Brown's Boys.
But there's something different about the more recent greetings and requests from the public. It seems people are now discovering the real Danny where they used just to see Buster.
"Do you know what? I always get - it’s so weird - 'Buster from Mrs Brown’s Boys! Can I get a picture or an autograph?’ Now it’s ‘Danny’. They’re calling me Danny," he explains.
"It used to always be Buster until I was on Dancing with the Stars, and I find it really weird to get my head around the fact that people actually know my real name.
"I grew up as Buster. Everyone on the football team called me Buster. So, it's weird people calling me by my real name. And as soon as they call me Danny I know - it’s Dancing with the Stars."
And while the general public may be learning to see the man behind the character, Danny's also discovering the benefits that come with a prolonged stint on Dancing with the Stars.
You could say that he's almost half the man he used to be.
In part-explanation of his current health status, Danny needs to go back in time a little for perspective.
"I did get into that whole fitness thing and I lost a lot of weight and it was the best I’d ever felt in my life," he recalls. "And then I went through a separation, and then after nearly a year or so I met my partner Tina. I was still in good shape.
"Then I started having lazy days in on the couch, watching Netflix, just chilling, having a few vodkas and Cokes, and slowly but surely the weight started coming back on to me.
"As much as I would try to keep it off, I wasn’t as strict about it. Now I’m starting to get back into it again. With Dancing with the Stars, I cannot tell you the amount of weight I’m losing in this.
"Like, they had to punch a hole in my belt last Sunday," he adds, smilingly broadly. "I’d lost two-and-a-half inches off my waist. And it comes off so fast.
"So, after tis is over, my main goal is maintaining it this time, keep it up and try and be as healthy as possible."
As a comparison to the physical demands that go with participating on Dancing with the Stars, Danny reflects on the reality of his life when Mrs Brown's Boys is on the road.
Let's just say Danny's GP wouldn't be too happy about the lifestyle. And the currently slimmer Danny's not exactly a big fan of the habits that are commonplace when you're touring a show.
"It’s tough on tour as every night you’re having a drink after the show, and you’re eating catering every day," says Danny. "So I’m to try and concentrate on being healthy because I feel great.
"I feel really fit and [pro dance partner] Salome’s always on to me: ‘Okay, suck that belly in, straighten that spine - we don’t want to see belly here’.
"So, it’s falling off me - thank God. I’d like to keep it up after this is over."
There's also a huge adrenaline rush involved when Sunday's Dancing with the Stars comes round. It's that curious mix of dread and buzz that comes with doing something out of your comfort zone - and doing it live on TV, watched by the nation.
And dancing can be therapeutic too, Danny insists.
"Every Sunday, the excitement with the nerves . . . I can’t explain," he says. "You’d have to experience it to understand what I’m talking about. It’s so nerve-wracking.
"You’re going out there, in front of a live audience - and that’s one thing. But there's also knowing that everybody you know is watching right now at home.
"But when that music starts, for about a minute and thirty seconds, you just forget about everything. And you just dance.
"It's hard to explain, because I’m not a dancer," adds the 41-year-old. "But when I experience it, it’s so weird a feeling for me. But I look forward to it now every week.
"So, can I say that dancing is good mental health? Yes. It makes you forget about everything and just concentrate on music and dancing. It’s lovely."
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