Singer and Glee star Damian McGinty, Dr. Marie Cassidy and former rugby player Shane Byrne confirmed for Dancing with the Stars

Damian McGinty has joined Dr. Marie Cassidy and Shane Byrne as participants confirmed for Dancing with the Stars dancefloor which returns to RTÉ One in January.

Damian confirmed he would be vying for the glitterball this afternoon while chatting to Ray Foley on Today FM.

In 2011 Damian won the American reality TV show, The Glee Project, having been selected from 40,000 people to take part in the series. His talent and personality saw him land the role of Rory Flanagan in the popular television series Glee, which he played for three years. He went on to star with his Glee co-star Heather Morris, who played Brittany on the show, in the family movie Santa Fake.

Damian says, “Dancing with the Stars is a major challenge for me, one I am really excited and also very nervous about. Dancing has never been a strong point of mine, quite the opposite, but I’m eager to get to work. It feels like a great time to simply go out there and enjoy the experience, and I can’t wait to get started.”

Marie was the first woman to be state pathologist in Ireland. She held this role for fourteen years from 2004 to 2018. During this time, she worked on every high-profile case in Ireland. She is also professor of Forensic Medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland and Trinity College.

Shane Byrne made his claim for the glitterball while speaking to Jennifer Zamparelli on RTÉ 2FM. As presenter of the hit series, Jennifer was delighted to be joined live in studio by Shane.

Shane is a retired international rugby player. He got his first cap for Ireland in 2001 and went on to win a further forty caps for his country. He was part of the winning Triple Crown team in 2004 that was captained by Brian O’Driscoll.

Marie says: “I haven’t stopped smiling since I was asked to be part of Dancing with the Stars. Who would have thought! It’s going to be a challenge as I’m not used to just having FUN. But bring it on, the more sequins the better. Just got to learn to dance! Over to you, partner.”

Shane says “I’m really looking forward to hitting the dance floor on Dancing with the Stars in January! It’s not like anything I’ve ever done before – it’s a long way from the rugby pitch – but I’ll give it my all and I know I’ll have a lot of fun along the way.”