Katelyn Cummins triumphs on Dancing With The Stars

 

For the past 3 months, viewers have tuned in every Sunday night to watch the incumbent Rose of Tralee Katelyn Cummins entertaining on Dancing With The Stars. She, alongside her partner Leonardo Lini, sailed through the competition with ease, performing a variety of different dances. She has also portrayed different characters through each dancing, such as a teenage High School Vampire on Fright Night, Snow White on the Movie Night, and danced with ease.

Her star studded performances saw her topping the board most weeks, and she performed on last Sunday's final, competing against the other finalists, consisting of Ireland AM presenter Eric Roberts, The Traitors star Paudie Moloney, and singer Tolu Makay.

For her first performance in the final, the Judge's Choice, Katelyn and Leonardo performed their Snow White quickstep from Movie Week to the song "Whistle While You Work" from last year's live action adaptation, bagging a full house of 10s from all judges.

The final performance was the one that really touched me, and most viewers the most. Katelyn and Leonardo's final performance on the show, saw them doing a contemporary dance routine to "Ordinary" by Alex Warren. Halfway through the performance, the music was quietened to give the viewers an understanding of Katelyn's hearing disability, and how she copes with it on a daily basis. She never talked about when she was onstage in Tralee last year, but her Dancing With The Stars journey gave her the opportunity to talk about it and show the viewers what it was like.

After the emotional performance ended, all judges gave touching comments; Arthur Gorunlian touched on Katelyn's performances, saying she took his breath away and that she was a "true representation of what dance is". Karen Byrne commented that what Katelyn did was "so much more than the final, so much more than the show". Newcomer judge Oti Mabuse commented that "Every week Katelyn has been incredible to watch" and that her performance was "the cherry on top". 

However, it was the emotional last comments of judge Brian Redmond that rendered Katelyn, the audience and viewers at home to tears, when he paid tribute to Katelyn's performances on the show. He commented the following:

"The thing I love about you the most is that you're true to yourself. You are the Rose of Tralee, you're an apprentice electrician. You're a fabulous dancer. And that's what I like about you, you've remained true to yourself from Day One in this competition. And to finish up, the only thing I can think of is that I have an 11 year old daughter at home watching the show tonight. And if she turns out to be like you as a young woman, I'll be really proud."

The audience applauded, and a visibly emotional Katelyn thanked Brian for his comments, before another round of 10s were awarded.

At the end of it all, the glorious moment of announcing the winner came along, and it was joyously announced that Katelyn and Leonardo topped the night and won the Glitterball trophy! 

On behalf of the Facebook fans group, we send our congratulations to Katelyn and Leonardo on this great win! It was deserved right from the get go, and for Katelyn, it was straight back to her Rose duties when she flew stateside the next day, to join her 2025 Rose Class in New York for the St. Patrick's Day parade, where I'm sure Katelyn was mobbed in the biggest set of hugs by her Rose Class after her triumph! We look forward to what's next in store over the next few months until Katelyn hands over the sash to the incoming 2026 Rose of Tralee winner!

Stay tuned for more group posts and blog posts!

Facebook fans group link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1280950768910226