Love Island star Dami Hope has said he would prefer to co-host Dancing With The Stars instead of being a contestant on it.
The Dubliner – who was a finalist on this year’s Love Island with girlfriend Indiyah Polack – had been tipped to take part in next year’s RTE One series. But Dami said he doesn’t think he wants to be a contestant on the show and would prefer to be Nicky Byrne’s replacement, who quit the show due to commitments with Westlife.
Dami told us: “I’m rumoured for it, but I don’t know if I want to do the dancing part. I might prefer to do the co-hosting and talk and commentate and stuff because dancing… I feel like it is a big commitment.
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“I feel like for all the other things I’m saying I want to do, I’m kind of sidetracked, I won’t be able to do. So I’m a bit on the fence about it to be honest.”
Dami had previously said on Fancy A Chat podcast: “They are trying to get me to do Dancing With The Stars, I don’t know if I am going to do that though. I might try to do it.
“I can dance when I want to dance but it depends. If they are going to teach me how to dance, I’ll do it. I can move a little bit, I have a little rhythm, me and Davide did a little something.
“But I might actually do that. I don’t want to just do fashion. I want to open every door.”
But speaking at Virgin Media’s new season schedule launch, Dami said his blossoming relationship with Indiyah – who he plans to move in with next month – means that he won’t be able to see her much if he has to be in Ireland for a few months. He said:“I don’t think Indiyah is going to like the fact that I’m going to be in Ireland most of the time as well as I would only be able to see her once a week. That’s hard.
“I feel like some of the people who did it were actually single. I’m actually in a relationship and we’re talking about moving in together in the UK. It’s just a big commitment.”
The 26-year-old also opened up about the last few weeks since leaving the villa – saying he is swarmed by fans while out and about but he is taking his newfound fame in his stride. He said: “I feel like I’m taking it very… everyone keeps saying to me how I’m very used to it.
“I’m just always myself. I’m normal about it. I’m not acting too big. I’m humble about it because literally three months ago, I was walking through like a normal person.
“It’s either they throw themselves at me or they give me s**t for Casa Amor. It’s one or the other.”
But he said the downside of being in the public eye means he has to watch out for people who are looking to stir trouble between himself and Indiyah. He revealed: “It’s definitely the downside because now I feel like we’re really out in the public eye and a lot of people are invested in our story.
“Some people are just looking for any bad publicity to make a new narrative. Like any little thing I do, even if I post a picture on the internet or any interaction I have, it creates another narrative and people will run with it.
“So like on a night out I have to be like… I’m in a relationship anyway so I’m not going to do anything that disrespects my girlfriend but any little thing I do – maybe a girl takes a photograph with me and she is hugging me too much, there is the narrative there ‘oh Dami has already cheated’. All those things.
“But I’ve seen what the public eye is for celebrities so you kind of know what you do sign up for in a sense. You have supporters but you have haters as well.”
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