‘Box office gold’ – Kilkenny’s Dancing With The Stars champion and new dance partner Mary Kennedy wow judges

He’s back! Fresh from winning the Glitterball on last year’s show, Kilkenny Dancing Star John Nolan returned to our screens last night with his new partner, the recently retired RTÉ presenter Mary Kennedy.

And the dancing duo didn’t disappoint as they sashayed across the dancefloor and into the nation’s hearts with a “magnificent” Foxtrot to No Frontiers.

Prior to taking the floor, Mary (65) had admitted she faced an uphill struggle against rival dancers half her age. But her first review was a rave one from Judge Loraine Barry who her: “You may have retired from a programme but that was not a retired performance.”

Julian Benson gushed: “It was a beautiful song for a beautiful woman. Trust in John (Nolan), you’re working with a champion, together you’re box office gold.

“You said you wanted to dance . . . your dream has come true. So proud of you, it was elegant and sophisticated. It was so clear you enjoyed it, you had a twinkle in your eyes.”

But fellow judge Brian Redmond was harder to impress. He said of the performance: “That was flat from start to finish. You do have that sparkle in your eyes which was fabulous to see but you do have a bit more work to do.”

Mary shrugged off the criticism though, later telling host Jennifer Zamparelli: “I was expecting those comments from Brian, sure doesn’t everyone expect it from Brian.”