Lord of the Dance star Connor Smyth proved once and for all how tough you have to be to make it in the Irish dance industry, after he outlasted numerous other athletes and hardmen to win SAS: Who Dares Wins.
The professional Irish dancer joined the Channel 4 reality series, which puts contestants through incredible hardships akin to the training SAS soldiers have to endure.
The series was led by former British Marine Ant Middleton who designed the training to test the contestants’ physical and mental strength.
The brutal course sees the majority of participants drop out before completion.
However, the latest series did include two contestants who were tough enough to last it out to the end.
One of them was professional Irish dancer Connor Smyth. He hopes his achievement will go a long way to proving the physical and mental needed to be an Irish dancer.
The Co Down man said: “Passing the course is hard to put into words, such an outpouring of emotions, I’m just over the moon after the most amazing experience but at the same time I feel massive relief because I put myself under so much pressure.
“I guess for me it was confirmation, backing up my beliefs about the mental and physical strength of Irish dancers and male dancers especially.
“I feel such pride and I’m so thankful to my family for the support throughout this journey and my life.
“I put so much into my preparation beforehand and I gave it my absolute all throughout the course.
“My sole focus was to do my family, my colleagues and the Irish dancing world proud and to put Irish dancing on the map, so hopefully I’ve done that.”
There is no doubt that Connor’s brilliant effort on the show has gone a long way to enhance the reputation for male Irish dancers as strong athletes.
He received plenty of praise from fans online who were quick to note his incredible mental and physical resilience to survive the entirety of the series.
