Pop duo Jedward have said Wild Youth were "hard done by" in not making it to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest - as they confirmed they would love to represent Ireland again.
The Lucan lads – John and Edward Grimes – reacted to the band crashing out of the song contest in Liverpool on Tuesday night, with Ireland now failing to make it to the final since 2018.
The Lipstick hitmakers – who represented us twice in 2011 and 2012 – said they felt sorry for Wild Youth and had a "heart-to-heart" with drummer Callum McAdam during Thursday night’s EuroClub party.
Read more: Wild Youth's song 'wasn't original enough' says ex-Ireland Eurovision finalist Ryan O'Shaughnessy
Edward said: "I think Wild Youth did do a great job, honestly. I feel they were hard done by not getting through.
"They did do so much promo and there was so much work that went into it."
John said: "Yeah, they got the pyro and everything," with Edward adding: "They had more pyro than you would see on New Year’s Eve."
Edward revealed John had a "heart-to-heart" with drummer Callum McAdam on Thursday night after they performed at EuroClub.
Edward said: "It was kind of a special performance because the drummer from Wild Youth, he’s engaged to his fiancée, so we gave him some love. John had a heart-to-heart conversation."
John said on RTE Radio 1: "In that moment, you’re like 'where do we go from here?' and I was saying you just need to recover from it and fair enough there was that drama on Twitter and all that stuff but they need to come out of it now and carve a new path and leave it in the past."
Jedward scored Ireland’s highest placing in the competition since Mark Roberts finished 2nd in 1997 when they finished 8th in the 2011 final with Lipstick.
The following year, in 2012, they again represented Ireland and while they made the final they finished in 19th place with Waterline.
John said: "All we had for Lipstick was those high shoulder pads and our hair. There was nothing on stage except our four back-up singers. I know people think it is about the production, but I think it is about you as people as well."
Edward said: "I feel like you have to gel well with the song and not be startled on stage.
"No matter how much rehearsals or sound checks you do you don’t know how your body is mentally going to cope on that stage and luckily we dealt with it well," Edward added.
Asked if they would represent Ireland again at the contest, Edward said: "100 per cent. I would love a special 007 plan in place where maybe we get to bring five songs to the table and actually plan it out and make it right instead of having to be in a competition."
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