The Irish press will call Paudie Moloney an underdog and leave it there. What they will not say is that his run to the Dancing with the Stars final is a live test of political appeal—reality TV as a dry run for a future candidacy, with the same voters and the same emotional triggers.
Paudie Moloney’s DWTS Arc Is a Political Dry Run the Irish Press Won’t Name
Paudie Moloney, 68, a retired prison officer from Limerick and a breakout star of The Traitors Ireland, reached the grand final of RTÉ’s Dancing with the Stars Ireland on Sunday 15 March 2026. He is the oldest contestant and oldest finalist in the show’s history, competing with professional partner Laura Nolan against Katelyn Cummins, Eric Roberts, and Tolü Makay. According to RTÉ, his journey has been defined by personal determination: he overcame serious back problems and surgery in 2020 and never expected to get past the first few episodes. The Irish Independent reported in March 2026 that his popularity has drawn a telling line from insiders: “If Paudie was a politician he’d be a very popular person.” The paper did not spell out that the show is effectively measuring that appeal in real time.
The backlash has made the stakes clearer. The Irish Times culture critic Ed Power wrote on 8 March 2026 that keeping Moloney in the competition was “a ludicrous decision” that “hits the contest’s credibility,” arguing that the 69-year-old had “an open-ended get-out-of-jail-free card” while stronger dancers were eliminated. Online, viewers asked how he was still on the show after semi-finalist Jordan Dargan left. Moloney himself has framed the show as entertainment, not sport. He told The Journal in March 2026 that “Dancing with the Stars is not called a dance competition, it’s called an entertainment show,” and to the Irish Independent he said: “People are entitled to speak, I just don’t have to listen.” The controversy is not really about dancing; it is about who gets to stay in the spotlight and what that visibility is for.
Irish precedent makes the political reading hard to ignore. In 2007, Independent TD Michael Healy-Rae won RTÉ’s “Celebrities Go Wild”; in 2011 it emerged that over 3,600 calls had been made from Oireachtas phone lines to vote for him, with Fianna Fáil Senator Ned O’Sullivan admitting to making around a dozen calls. Healy-Rae later paid €2,600 in costs. In 2011, Dragons’ Den panellist Seán Gallagher ran for the presidency and briefly led polling by 15 points. As the Irish Independent has noted, Irish politicians and reality TV have long been “unlikely bedfellows.” Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has since hinted that a former DWTS winner may be considering a move into politics, and The Sun and Irish Examiner reported similar speculation about a show star entering politics. The link between prime-time popularity and electoral viability is already part of the conversation; the press just rarely names it when it is happening in front of them. Eliminated semi-finalist Jordan Dargan told The Journal that Moloney “could win it” and is “a testament that everything can change,” while professional dancer Rebecca Scott said he “does his steps and he does them well.” The debate is not whether he is likable but whether the show is measuring dance or something else entirely.
What This Actually Means
Paudie Moloney’s underdog story is not only a feel-good narrative. It is a live experiment in whether mass appeal built on warmth, resilience, and relatability can survive a vote. The Irish media will report the final and the quotes; they will not usually say that the same machinery that tests “who the public likes” on a dance show is the same one that will later be used to test who they might vote for. That does not mean Moloney will run for office, but it does mean that his run to the final has already done the job of building and measuring a brand. The real message is that in Ireland, as elsewhere, reality TV is one of the places where future political appeal is rehearsed—and the press, by calling him only an underdog, leaves that rehearsal unnamed.
What Is Dancing with the Stars Ireland?
Dancing with the Stars is an Irish reality television series that has aired on RTÉ One since 8 January 2017. It is based on the UK format Strictly Come Dancing and is part of the global Dancing with the Stars franchise. Celebrities are paired with professional dancers and compete in weekly routines, with a combination of judges’ scores and public vote determining who stays. The show is currently hosted by Jennifer Zamparelli and Laura Fox (standing in for Doireann Garrihy) and judged by Arthur Gourounlian, Oti Mabuse, Karen Byrne, and Brian Redmond. The 2026 grand final was broadcast on Sunday 15 March, with each finalist performing a judges’ choice routine and a showdance before the public chose the winner.
Sources
The Irish Independent, RTÉ, The Journal, The Irish Times, Irish Examiner