PAUDIE MOLONEY FROM The Traitors Ireland has been announced as the second contestant on Dancing With The Stars this upcoming season.

Former Eurovision winner Niamh Kavanagh was the first contestant announced yesterday.

Revealing Moloney as the next contestant, RTÉ said he had “won over the country earlier this year with his typical Irish Dad forthrightness that struck a chord with viewers”.

The retired prison officer has appeared on The Late Late Show alongside his son and fellow The Traitors Ireland contestant Andrew, as well as being cast as the wizard in a Dublin Christmas panto Olly Goes to Oz.

The Limerick man said he is both excited and apprehensive to be taking part in the show.

“I’m really looking forward to the challenge, but I’m afraid all the glitter, the fake tan, and the sequins are going to be very new to me so I don’t know what to make of any of that,” he said.

Moloney added that his grandkids will be “delighted and mortified at the same time”.

“I really got lucky with my pro dancer – I can’t say the same for her but she has reassured me we’ll have a lot of fun while going through this great experience.

“As I was saying to my wife, Bernadette, it will be a whole new experience sober dancing – I’m normally only dancing at weddings now and, depending on the circumstances, the odd funeral.”

He and Bernadette have been longtime fans of the show, he said.

The show, which started in the UK but has seen an Irish version on RTÉ since 2017, is hosted by Jennifer Zamparelli and Laura Fox. 2FM presenter Fox is standing in for Doireann Garrihy while she is on leave.

It returns from Sunday 4 January on RTÉ One.