Dancing with the Stars' Nicolas Roche and his pro partner Karen Byrne said they are living like ‘hermits’ to avoid the chance of Covid kicking them out of the competition.
Missy Keating was forced to temporarily step out of the competition last week, after she tested positive for the virus.
As the competition heats up and the dreaded first dance off is just around the corner, former champion Karen and celebrity cyclist Nicolas admit they are taking no chances.
Seasoned star Karen told Irish Daily Mirror: “Oh my god yeah, it definitely is one of those things, I am terrible, i’m like no socialising let's do the job and get it done and get to that finish line.
“We are like hermits. We just see each other.”
Four-time Olympian Nicolas, who has been staying with his grandparents in Dundrum, during the contest, told how he is extra cautious for fear of bringing the virus home too.
“I am staying with my 85-year-old grandparents so I also have that responsibility,” he explained.
The 37-year-old, who was previously based in Monaco added: “I don’t want to bring Covid to work and I am hugging my granny and grandad everyday so I also have that extra responsibility.
“So we are coming into the show and doing antigens and pcrs so it is just about making sure we stay in some sort of a bubble.
“You don’t have to be alone all of the time, but just a bubble you can trust that are also cautious.
“But obviously you can catch covid by touching the wrong door handle or...
“You can’t let it over consume you. But you do have to be careful,” Karen added.
The pair were speaking on Sunday after an emotional ‘dedicated dance’ show which saw Nicolas pay tribute to his brother Alexis, who saved their other sibling Florian’s life.
The former professional cyclist told how he wanted to give Alexis his moment, after he donated bone marrow to their younger brother Florian, who was diagnosed with leukaemia as twice as teenager.
Opening up about the tough time, Nicolas said: “Both times were difficult.
In 2008 I was still quite young and maybe less aware of the whole reality that he was dying.
“But in 2018 when it hit us for the second time it was tough. And I had a lot of personal issues I was going through in my life at that moment and 2018 was really difficult.
“When you have one Leukaemia it is hard, and the second one it is harder again. And you can’t get the second donor so we had to go and source another donor.
“So it was a blessing to have my brother Alexis in 2008 because they were like 90% compatible which was huge and it was also a young bone marrow."
“The problem is when you have some young, it is difficult to get a donor that has the same kind of age. You usually have elderly or people who have had issues or accidents, so we were lucky we got a donor for his second transplant.
“And he actually, Florian, I am so proud of him, he did his first work experience at the beginning of January so he was over the moon.”
Meanwhile, Karen gushed of her own pride at Nicolas, and how far he has come in the competition, admitting she never expected he could improve so much.
After scoring 19 from the judges, following a rocky start to the show, she said: “I can’t believe how much he has improved. I mean looking back at week one, that look on his face when we were dancing, I was thinking ‘oh no, get us through this dance’.
“By the end of it, he barely even knew where the judges were. He was like a deer in headlights.
“So my expectations were ‘let’s just see how we get on’.
“But like for me the journey that he has shown me is just a love of dance and the more you ease into it and just enjoying what we can do.
“This is a really tough show. I don’t think people at home realise how intense it is.”
Nicolas added: “We are over two months dancing now and I could definitely not imagine where we are now two months ago…
“We put the work in and we train a lot, we don’t take a day off. And both of us are committing 100% to the show.
“And it is not always fun. Karen bites her lips and I get frustrated sometimes I just want to scream. It is not all about having laughter, but it is also having that confidence between the two of us where we challenge each other.”
