When Aidan O’Mahony and Denise Healy’s first baby arrives in little over a week, no doubt well-wishers will speculate that he or she will one day line out in Croke Park in the green and gold like their five-time All-Ireland-winning father.

Since taking part in Dancing With The Stars (DWTS), however, the new parents might just have other plans in mind.

“I was saying to Denise when we have kids, it’s the one place I’ll be sending them: to dancing,” says Aidan.

“He has said that dancing is the key for inner confidence in kids,” Denise continues. “It’s the way they express themselves, their posture – and they enter a room like they own it almost.”

And indeed, since Aidan swapped his football boots for Cuban heels on the hit RTÉ show, he too has two-stepped outside his comfort zone – all while working as a garda in Tralee, studying for a degree in strength and conditioning, putting the finishing touches to a new family home, and, most importantly, preparing for their new arrival.

COUNTRY BOY

The youngest of seven children of Kathleen and the late Timothy O’Mahony, Aidan grew up in Mount Horgan near Rathmore, where his father farmed part-time while working for Cadbury’s.

“My dad would have had cattle and sheep when I was growing up, so I suppose going to a country school, I would have been involved in it myself and it’s actually funny now to think back on that and then seeing the ‘country’ lad above Dancing With The Stars,” he says, explaining that his brother Noel still farms sheep in Glenflesk.

Denise is also a country girl, raised in Aghadoe, near Killarney, where the couple are currently building their home.

“We both lived in cities and we travelled quite a bit, but we always knew we wanted to live in the countryside,” she says, explaining that they love the privacy offered by rural Ireland and its simple pleasures, such as long walks in Killarney National Park, time with family or just curling up with a good book.

One of three daughters of the late Mairead and Denis Healy, Denise works as a course coordinator for Castel International Education and met Aidan seven years ago at a charity event. She admits that she was far from an “avid supporter” of Kerry GAA, but that one of the strengths of their relationship is that they have independent interests, while always being there for each other – including at the most challenging times in their lives.

“Myself and Aidan have been through a lot. We lost three parents really since we’ve been together,” she says. “We’ve come through all those hard times and we just appreciate everything.”

DANCING WITH THE STARS

Their DWTS journey started in November when Aidan was first approached to take part. Despite his high-profile GAA career, he has never sought the spotlight but took the plunge after one of the production team asked him what he thought was the worst thing that could happen?

“And genuinely, I didn’t know,” recalls Aidan. “And then I just said: ‘Why not? These opportunities don’t come around that often.’”

Needless to say, Denise’s support was critical. Despite the fact that she was entering the final trimester of her pregnancy, she backed Aidan all the way.

“I was feeling fine with my pregnancy. It was very smooth, no sickness or anything, so it wasn’t that I needed assistance,” she says.

“I knew that I’d work right up ’til the end and I follow a pretty healthy diet and I said: ‘I don’t need you around 24/7’”

“That’s very harsh now,” Aidan interjects, laughing.

That said, Denise has made all but one of the live shows, while Aidan drives home almost every Sunday night.

Since joining DWTS, Aidan has discovered a love of traditional ballroom dancing – his favourite performance to date was the American Smooth with partner, Valeria Milova – though the rehearsals are intense.

“Being from a sporting background, you kind of think you should pick it up straight away and it doesn’t happen that way a lot,” says Aidan.

“But it’s a good thing because it mentally challenges you a lot and it takes you outside of your comfort zone, whereas on the football field I would have been very comfortable.”

And while he might be used to playing before 82,000 people in Croke Park, dancing live on national television is a different ball game.

“In a game where you make a mistake, you have 70 minutes to sort of rectify yourself,” explains Aidan. “You have a minute and a half here and you’re being judged and it’s live – the whole country see it, the audience see it, your family see it.”

While he admits that the judges’ negative comments after his samba in week seven “kind of hit me hard”, they also drove him to work harder for his waltz for week eight.

“It’s like picking up a paper on a morning and you play a match and you get a rating of five and someone has a cut off you – you go back training the following week, you work harder again,” he says.

“I think life is like that. It’s all about hurdles and how you get over them or around them and it’s about proving people wrong – and the dancing is no different.”

No matter what the judges have said, however, the swell of support in Kerry has carried both Aidan and Denise through the most challenging weeks.

“The unity in Kerry is unreal and the support and they’re so genuine – they really know how to pick somebody up,” says Denise.

“We’re going to have to re-mortgage the house to pay back these people,” he smiles.

KERRY FOOTBALL

But little wonder why. Having played nine All-Ireland finals with Kerry – and won five – Aidan had a glittering career in the green and gold. However, his favourite memories are of the tough training sessions, the dressing room banter with his teammates and, most importantly, sharing his journey with his family, like when he was named man of the match after the 2006 final.

“I’d never be about individual things but I remember that year getting man of the match and I remember people congratulating my parents,” he recalls. “It meant more for me to see them being congratulated than me getting the actual award.”

In January, however, he announced his retirement, having decided it was “the right time”.

“I said to myself if I was to come back with Kerry, you’d need to be doing it 110% and you have to have your priorities as well. We have a baby on the way, we’ve our house and that wasn’t the reason, but it’s like I’m 37 years of age this year and I’m getting older and I think the one thing I always say about Kerry is you’re judged on your last game, so I didn’t know what I had to offer them,” he says.

“I think Éamonn (Fitzmaurice) would have thought: ‘He’d give the young lads guidance.’ Which I’d have no problem doing but at the same time, I’d hate to be there in June and Éamonn coming up to me saying: ‘Do you know you didn’t make the first 15, you didn’t make the first 24,’ and I’d be telling myself: ‘Maybe you should have walked away the start of the year.’

“But I just thought it was the right time.”

Not that it has spelled the end of his involvement in sport. Aidan is currently studying strength and conditioning with a view to training teams in the future, while his experience on DWTS has opened the door to doing more media work as he has grown more comfortable in front of the camera.

“You actually are outside of your comfort zone and that’s being outside of a GAA pitch or outside of a uniform,” he says, adding that whatever happens on DWTS, he will look back on it as “a great thing in our life”.

“And I shared it with my family again, shared it with Denise and to go from the start and for it to lead on to this, it has been exceptional.”

Asked which of his GAA colleagues he’d like to see on the next series, he names former Kerry minor Tomás Ó Sé.

“He has an Irish dancing background, he has the confidence and he is a guy now that would give the professional dancers a good run for their money,” he explains.

Once DWTS wraps, Aidan says that people have joked that he will be in demand to judge every Strictly Come Dancing fundraiser around the country, not to mention being hot property on the dancefloor at weddings.

“If they took me out at one wedding, they might give up on it,” he laughs.

“But do you know it will actually be nice, even if Denise and I went to a wedding now, to be able to dance a waltz or something – not having to be that person when they’re clearing off the tables for the food and they’re moving the table that you’re actually moving with it into the corner to stay away from the whole dancefloor.”

Though with little over a week until Denise’s due date, the dancing might have to wait. But what happens if the baby decides to arrive during the live show?

“Well, I think he’ll prioritise that,” she laughs.

“The baby comes first and Denise comes first,” confirms Aidan. “That’s why I come home every week (after the live shows). It’s great to come back to normality and what we have, we really enjoy and we love our time together.

“It’s a new chapter in our lives.”

Watch Dancing With The Stars every Sunday at 6.30pm on RTÉ One. Voting lines open after the last dancer has performed. To vote for Aidan, text Aidan to 53125 or call 1513 71 71 01 and state “Aidan”.

With thanks to the Europe Hotel & Resort, Killarney. CL