<\/p>\n
Dylan Byrd and C\u00e1it McGovern.<\/p>\n
\n Published:
\n Sat 8 Nov 2025, 2:37 PM\n <\/p>\n
The winners of the Strictly for Cuan fundraiser are still reeling from their big win last weekend, when selected as wildcards by the judges on the night.<\/p>\n
Both C\u00e1it McGovern and Dylan Byrd agreed to do the dancing fundraiser again in a heartbeat, performing their routine three times last Sunday night and bringing home the overall win.<\/p>\n
When Dylan received the call from Angela Callaghan, Cuan Chairperson, he immediately agreed to get involved. It was only on the launch night, when all the dancers met for the first time, that he asked himself \u2018what have I gotten myself into?\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe didn\u2019t mention how much effort would have to go into it,\u201d he laughs.<\/p>\n
For C\u00e1it, she was sitting in the beautician\u2019s chair at Finishing Touches when Sharon Smith asked her a favour.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbsolutely not, not a chance in hell am I standing up on stage in front of people and dancing. No way,\u201d she recalls her response.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust think about it,\u201d Sharon told her when she was leaving.<\/p>\n
After giving it more thought, and with a healthy dose of persuasion, C\u00e1it found herself attending the first rehearsal too.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs soon as I said yes it was like something lit a fire underneath my feet, I said I\u2019m going to do this and I am going to do this well,\u201d she told the Celt.<\/p>\n
Dylan and C\u00e1it were delighted to discover they\u2019d been matched. The pair were well used to working with each other from their four years at Kiernan\u2019s Filling Station, and having known each other since they were five years old.<\/p>\n
Dylan is no stranger to dancing, having performed on the Britain\u2019s Got Talent stage 10 years ago. C\u00e1it fondly remembers rooting for him, watching the TV on her sitting room floor in Killygarry.<\/p>\n
C\u00e1it admits she\u2019s not \u201ca dancer\u201d, however she did do it in her younger days and attended The Performance Academy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always had a bit of rhythm in me but I\u2019m not a dancer,\u201d she contends.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy worry coming into this was being paired with someone who had no rhythm at all,\u201d Dylan confesses, delighted to find out this was not the case.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter we got paired together, it came up on my Snapchat memories from six years ago, the two of us dancing behind the shop. We were just messing, the shop was empty and we were having the craic,\u201d she laughs.<\/p>\n
The country music theme was another shock to the pair, who were completely out of their comfort zone when it came to boot stomping and cowboy hats. Through rehearsals, the song \u2018The Cowboy Dance!\u2019 grew on both of them, and their hip hop line dance routine came together over six weeks of training.<\/p>\n
On the day, C\u00e1it felt \u201cgrand\u201d about performing with no nerves, while Dylan was \u201creally calm\u201d until the hour before the show.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t nervous on stage but after I was so emotional. I was so overwhelmed, we were the first group that got all tens,\u201d Dylan recalls.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe crowd went absolutely insane,\u201d C\u00e1it adds.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll never get the noise of the crowd out of my head.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe overall win, I was so shocked, I was sobbing. I\u2019m not an emotional person, when it comes to performing, I don\u2019t get emotional, I don\u2019t know what it was. I haven\u2019t performed in front of a huge audience in years. After not performing for so long to get that amount of support, I was just so overwhelmed with it,\u201d Dylan says.<\/p>\n
Which stage is better, The Hotel Kilmore or Britain\u2019s Got Talent?<\/p>\n
\u201cWell I have to say two completely different experiences. I think it\u2019s always different performing at home because I feel like there is more pressure on [at home].<\/p>\n
\u201cMy whole family was in the audience [at Strictly], for BGT at the live shows, it was my mam, my brother and my sister.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the older you get, the more judgement you feel. I was 16 when I did BGT so I didn\u2019t care. I didn\u2019t care that it was live on TV, it didn\u2019t hit me until it was all over.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo incredible experiences in my life but I do think home turf is harder to perform in,\u201d he surmises.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I think back on that, it was such a surreal experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
After coming home from BGT, the Clifferna native described it as \u201cwild\u201d. But he also recalls: \u201cI didn\u2019t want to leave my house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t expecting it to be as big as it was. I was a child,\u201d the now 27-year-old says, recalling walking around Cavan Town and people stopping him to take photos, while strangers also waved at him.<\/p>\n
Dylan went on to study theatre and film in college, and hadn\u2019t danced in around five years when the Cu\u00e1n Strictly came calling. Has this opportunity reopened the door to performing?<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so glad I said yes, and I\u2019m so glad I got to appreciate dance again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s put more love in my heart for performing and appreciating it more. I don\u2019t know to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n
To rediscover his passion for dancing again, and also raise \u201clife changing\u201d funds together with C\u00e1it, the pair have had an unforgettable few weeks. The Strictly for Cuan fundraiser brought in a total of \u20ac276,079.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo say that it was fun is an understatement because fun doesn\u2019t even encapsulate the whole lot,\u201d C\u00e1it says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were so supported the whole way through, and to win it was the icing on the cake,\u201d Dylan agrees.<\/p>\n
\n Published:
\n Sat 8 Nov 2025, 2:37 PM\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dylan Byrd and C\u00e1it McGovern. Published: Sat 8 Nov 2025, 2:37 PM The winners of the Strictly for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129881,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[93,61,60,282],"class_list":["post-129880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129880\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}