Those of us who've been watching Dancing With The Stars from the beginning this year won't have been surprised that Mairéad Ronan ended up taking home the glitterball trophy.
The presenter and her professional partner John Nolan put in a stellar performance last night to be crowned champions, beating actor Johnny Ward and singer Cliona Hagan in the show's finale.
Having taken on the challenge of learning to dance just three months after welcoming her third child, Mairéad said that she felt the support of fellow mums.
"I think the mums of Ireland got behind me tonight; I felt that tonight," she told
RTÉ Entertainment.
"Doing the show has done so much for me personally.
"My confidence was on the floor when I met John, my baby was three months old, I was breastfeeding and tired and I had loads of self-doubt and my husband pushed me to do it, and then I met John, so I was going between two very brilliant, gorgeous, strong men who were backing me all the way."
"This time last year I was sitting in the booth where my family are sitting, I was 20 weeks pregnant.
"I never thought a year later I'd be on the dance floor picking up the glitterball."
Mairéad is mum to 11-year-old son Dara, three-year-old daughter Eliza and seven-month-old Bonnie.
