Brian: It'll be a whole new ball room game

BRIAN Redmond admits he wasn't surprised to see Loraine Barry leave Dancing With The Stars - and has reacted to Oti Mabuse joining the judging panel.

- BY MICHELLE TOWNSEND

Brian is the last original judge left on the hit RTE show since its inception and this evening will be joined by Strictly legend Oti, as well as Karen Byrne and Arthur Gour-ounlian, on the judging panel as season nine gets under way.

Loraine confirmed her exit earlier this year after eight seasons as head judge.

While Brian is sorry to see her leave, he understood and respected Loraine’s decision.

He told us: “I have known Loraine for 36 years at this stage. Did I see it coming? You can never tell.

“She's a very independent woman, she'll always do what she wants to do.

“Obviously it was her decision to step away from the show.

“I wasn't overly surprised, she had a very tough year last year with the passing of her mother, the passing of her first husband, her family home in Cabra is gone... so the connections to Ireland perhaps aren't as strong as they would've been in previous years.

“We were with her the day she got the phone call about her first husband passing, and then her mother passed a couple of weeks later.

“That would be a challenge for anybody, so no, I wasn't surprised by her decision.