Nicolas Roche, Erica Cody and Missy Keating join Dancing with the Stars

The next three celebrity contestants for Dancing with the Stars, which will begin on RT One in January, have been unveiled, with NICOLAS ROCHE, ERICA CODY, and MISSY KEATING joining the show.

NICOLAS ROCHE

Recently retired pro-cyclist Nicolas Roche has twice been national champion, has finished in the top ten of the Vuelta a Espa a on two occasions, and won stages in 2013 and 2015. He represented Ireland for the first time at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the road race. He made three more appearances at the three Olympics that followed, his best position coming this year in Tokyo. Nicolas has competed for Ireland 7 times at the road world championships. Nicolas is the son of Tour de France winner, Stephen Roche.

Nicolas says: I'm very excited to take part in Dancing with the Stars. It's a massive challenge for me, and something completely new. It scares me and thrills me at the same time. It has been great being back in Ireland and I'm really enjoying my time at home. The rehearsals so far are going good, it's hard work, it's pushing me both in terms of being something completely new, and also in terms of performing and learning to let go.

ERICA CODY

Erica Cody is one of the brightest new stars to breakthrough into the Irish music industry in recent years. In 2020, Erica was one of the most prominent voices in Ireland amid the Black Lives Matter protests. She was named one of Irish Country Magazine's Women to Watch in 2020. Erica was part of the Irish collective of female singers and musicians, Irish Women in Harmony, who recorded a version of Dreams by The Cranberries. Proceeds went to a charity which deals with domestic abuse which rose significantly during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Erica says: I'm so excited to be part of Dancing with the Stars - it's truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn amazing skills like Latin and Ballroom dancing and be pushed completely out of my comfort zone! Being in the music industry, it's a constantly evolving and fast-moving pace, so to be given the opportunity to do something brand new and to learn and grow within the dance world I'm just taking it all in. It's hard work but tonnes of fun. I'm so excited to be a part of it and see where it takes me.

MISSY KEATING

Missy Keating is a model and influencer from Malahide, Dublin. Missy spends her time between Dublin and London. In 2013, Missy began acting and appeared in two films. She also has a love for music, and in 2019 she auditioned for The Voice UK with her friend Georgia. Missy says you can always find her on social media, posting TikTok videos or interacting with her Instagram followers. She is the daughter of Boyzone singer, Ronan Keating, and former model, Yvonne Connolly.

MISSY SAYS: I'm so happy to be a part of this show and ready to give it my all and throw myself into this journey. Things have been going great so far, and it's definitely a challenge, but hard work pays off and I can't wait to get out there and show everyone what we are working on. What I'm really most excited about is the glitz and the glam that comes with the show - I've seen some of the costumes and they are just insane! To be honest, I'm still pinching myself, it's going to be brilliant.

LINK:	https://about.rte.ie/2021/12/12/nicolas-roche-erica-cody-and-missy-kea...
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