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When Nicky Byrne was feeling miserable as sin because of a verbal kicking from the BBC1 Strictly Come Dancing judges for an illegal lift during a waltz in his very first dance of the competition, it was dear old Sir Bruce Forsyth, who had blessed him and seek him backstage to lift his spirit.
Nicky Barnes claimed that Forsyth was very encouraging that he felt the urge to be better next time.
Because of the encouragement that Forsyth gave him, Nicky did practiced hard in perfecting the cha cha cha for the following week’s show.
It was Craig Revel Horwood, who started the verbal kicking when Nicky made the illegal lift. Because of the illegal lift, he and his partner received a disappointing 17 points.
Thankfully, last Saturday’s competition didn’t go as bad as before. The theme for the week was Hollywood and Nicky impressed the judges with his fancy footwork dressed as Jim Carrey from Nineties movie The Mask. When they received 27 points, Nicky was very happy.
‘I had a good week. I wasn’t so nervous,’ he says. ‘Maybe it’s because I was playing a character and had a mask on. I was somebody else.’
According to Nicky Byrnes, he was the ‘the bloke on the stool at the end’ (his words) in Westlife.
Fifteen months ago, he and fellow band members felt the need to retire after selling more than 45 million records with 14 No 1 hits and 26 top ten singles. They performed their last concert in Dublin in June.
‘Outside the Westlife family, nobody really knows who you are,’ he says. ‘You’re one of four guys who sing ballads and wear black shirts. I saw Strictly as a chance for people to get to know the real me.’
If he and his friends hadn’t given up on their boyband days, Nicky won’t be in this year’s Strictly Come Dancing competition.
He claimed that the biggest thing about leaving Westlife is he felt like he was exposed on his own. ‘That goes for sitting on the couch and being interviewed. In Westlife, there’s four of you. Four different views.
‘Someone may be grumpy that day. Someone may be jokey. You support each other. When you’re on your own, you’ve got to be funny, interesting, intriguing. It’s not easy. It’s certainly taking me time to be the real Nicky Byrne.’
Now he plans on being a TV or radio presenter. ‘I’m the sort of person who has to get up in the morning and work. We all enjoy family time, but you still need to have a function.
‘I look at Dermot O’Leary and think: “That’s where I see myself going.” But, for now I’m knee-deep in Strictly.’
When BBC One producers approached Nicky to take part of the dance contest, he claimed that Georgina did her part to encourage him.
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