“We made up in a way where we could make up for it, but there were kids there, so we couldn’t do what we wanted to do,” he laughs.

TV star Danny O’Carroll has revealed that not only did Dancing With The Stars ruin any chances of him enjoying a Valentine’s Day love-in with his girlfriend, but his two teenage sons got in his way to make up with her afterwards.
Danny (41), who stars at Buster Brady in Mrs Brown’s Boys, scored two nines and two eights when her performed a Viennese waltz last Sunday.

He and dance partner Salome Chachua wowed while dancing to David Gray’s This Year’s Love.

Dubliner Danny was married to the mother of his two teenage sons, Jamie and Blake, Amanda Woods, who plays Betty Brown in Mrs Brown’s Boys.

After splitting with Donegal lass Amanda, he met her fellow county woman Martina McClafferty and has made several public appearances with her in recent months.

He had been driving up to Donegal to see his sons on Friday, but those plans were scuppered in recent weeks when he has had to perform two dances for each show.

It meant that not only did he miss Valentine’s Day last Friday, but he also could not go back on Sunday night, as he had to be in early for rehearsals the next morning.

“Not really — not yet,” he replies, when we asked if he’s made it up to Martina, or Tina as he sometimes calls her.

“ I came in on Monday or Tuesday. She has a key for my apartment. I had rehearsals, and I Facetime Tina the minute I leave rehearsals and chat away as I’m walking home.

“As soon as I walked into my apartment, I could see that my bedroom door was closed, and I never close my bedroom door, and the washing machine was on.

“I was thinking ‘the cleaners must have been in the apartment’. I walked into the sitting room and Tina and our two kids were there, and I was just made up.

“The kids were on mid-term, so they could stay down for two days. They went home on Wednesday so it really made the week a lot shorter for me.

“We made up in a way where we could make up for it, but there were kids there, so we couldn’t do what we wanted to do,” he laughs.

“But yeah, it was a great week that way — it was just a lovely lovely surprise to see her.”

Danny says Martina has been like ‘a rock’ to him on the show.

“It’s amazing, she is incredible,” he says. “Seeing her in the front row every week, giving me that little fist pump ‘let’s go’, and clapping afterwards and blowing me a kiss, it means everything.

“She’s brilliant, she’s amazing. She’s the most positive person I’ve ever had in my life and she’s so good for me.”

In a rare reference to his marriage break-up, Danny admits he piled on weight after moving in with Tina, having previously lost many pounds while on a fitness regime during lockdowns.

“I did get into that whole fitness thing and I lost a lot of weight, and it was the best I have ever felt in my life,” he explains.

“And then I went through a separation. After nearly a year or so — I was still in good shape, I was still looking after myself — and I met my partner Martina.

“I sort of started having lazy days in on the couch, watching Netflix, just chilling. Having a few vodkas and cokes, and slowly but surely the weight all started coming back onto me.

“As much as I tried to keep it off, I wasn’t as strict about it. Now I’m starting to get back into it again.”

He confirms that rehearsals and dancing in the shows has made him trimmer.

“Dancing With The Stars… I cannot tell you the weight I am losing doing this,” he exclaims.

“They had to punch a hole in my belt last Sunday into my jeans. I have lost two-and-a-half inches off my waist, and it comes off so fast.

“After this is over, my main goal is to maintain it this time and keep it up and try and be as healthy as possible.

“It’s tough when you are on tour as well, when every night you are having a drink after the show and you’re eating catering every day. When you’re on tour it’s really hard, so I’m going to really concentrate on just trying to be healthy, because I feel great.

“I feel really fit. Salome is always onto me as well, ‘come on, suck that belly in, straighten that spine, we don’t want to see belly here’.

“It has fallen off me, so I’d like to keep it that way when this is all over.”

Danny adds that he used to be recognised on the street as Buster, but now gets stopped due to his dancing ability.

“It’s so weird because it’s always ‘Buster from Brown’s Boys’. ‘can I get a picture with you?’, ‘can I get an autograph?’, now they’re calling me Danny, and how good I’m doing in Dancing With The Stars. I find it really weird to get my head around, that people actually know my real name,” he smiles.

“I grew up as Buster. Even playing football, everybody on the football team called me Buster, so it’s weird people call me real name. I know as soon as they call me Danny, I know it’s to do with Dancing With The Stars.”

He is delighted with his progress so far but admits he would be happy if he was voted off tonight after he does a salsa to Lionel Richie’s All Night Long.

“I didn’t really have a goal coming into it,” he maintains. “I thought if I could get as far as show six I could go out with my head held high and I thought that would be amazing for me.

“Being here at 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 going to enjoy every week as it comes. Whether I move on after this week, I don’t know, but you know what? I don’t care.

“I’m absolutely exhausted, so if I get voted out I’d go ‘happy days’, I’d get to go home and see my kids.”​