Kevin Dundon: “I didn’t expect to get this far. Every week was a bonus”

“Quarter finals! Seriously! It’s epic,” Kevin Dundon exclaims as VIP Magazine catches up with him after his elimination.

The celebrity chef was a divisive figure in Dancing with the Stars. But after nine weeks on the show, he hung up his dancing shoes.

And what a way to go.

“It would have been nice to get into the semi-finals and possibly the finals. But sure look, we have to give someone else a chance,” he jokes.

He admits that he never had any doubt in his head about getting through saying: “I thought we would get through again tonight. But what a night to go out on! This dance was so fun! It had Kevin all over it. I am not a dancer. I learned to dance over the nine weeks. But there are better dancers on the show.”

Of course, many people were unhappy with Kevin surviving in the show, but the chef confesses that this year was a tough one.

“The standard of the show this year is particularly high. That’s great for the show but not for us!”

But he’s quick to add that the show isn’t just about dancing: “Listen, we got to the quarter-final, we entertained a lot of people and brought a lot of sunshine in people’s lives. So if we can do that, we have won.”

And of course, his scores weren’t always terrible, reminiscing on his high weeks, he jokes: “We got sixes and sevens, when I was in school they were Cs and Bs! I couldn’t be happier. It was an amazing experience. I couldn’t have been happier.”

But it wasn’t all fun and games as Kevin faced serious backlash on social media, people even rang in to Joe Duffy about him!

“When we got a lot of negative press, I was down for one day,” he admits.

“But it’s just a handful of people saying a lot of negative things, stirring it up all behind their computers. But they did us a favour because the amount of people who has supported us is incredible. It was just one day. It’s such a small part of the journey. I can’t say a bad word against it.”

But overall he wouldn’t change the experience one bit.

“I’m extremely proud. I thought I was better than I was in that first week and then I saw myself on camera and I went, ‘Oh right.’ I didn’t expect to get this far. Every week was a bonus. We put in so much effort over the last few weeks. The natural ability wasn’t there! I need a holiday.”