There’s a fabulously feel-good ending to Dancing with the Stars 2026 (RTÉ One, 6.30pm) as Rose of Tralee Katelyn Cummins claims the Glitterball trophy with a performance that draws on her experience of life with a hearing disability.
Gulping back tears, Cummins explains that her “left ear is 90 per cent deaf” and that she has impaired hearing in her right ear. “My hearing disability does affect me.”
She has always been “so insecure” about her disability, but is persuaded by her dance partner, Leonardo Lini, to draw on it with her second routine – a show dance to Alex Warren’s Ordinary that features a burst of distortion that conveys her experience of music as a person with impaired hearing.
In a show that is all about razzmatazz, it is a heart-stopping moment that earns a sweep of perfect 10s from the judges and which undoubtedly swings the vote in favour of Cummins.
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For her to win with such a dramatic dance will have warmed the hearts of the audience. It is also surely a huge relief for RTÉ at the end of an up-and-down season.
The big talking point has been the unstoppable march to the final of Traitors star Paudie Moloney – a likable, crotchety dad archetype who has benefited from a huge public vote.
Yet, he has also fuelled a backlash as he was spared from multiple dance-offs while more deserving contestants have had to groove for their lives. That he has become a national talking point was confirmed on the week of the competition when he received the distinction of being the subject of a bitter dispute on Liveline.
In the final, however, the expected outbreak of Paudiemania failed to arrive. Dancing with Laura Nolan, he acquits himself respectably on his two routines – receiving his highest ever score of 29 for his show dance.
But for once he is a sideshow rather than the main event.
Along with victorious Cummins, radio presenter and influencer Eric Roberts also achieves two perfect scores on the night, dancing with Arianna Favaro.
However, the segment that stands out is when singer Tolü Makay talks about her mental health and how Dancing with the Stars was a way for her to “seek joy”.
“Joy is an act of rebellion, joy is an act of resilience,” she says, just about holding the floodgates in check.
Just like its big brother, the BBC’s Strictly, Dancing with the Stars celebrates glitter and artifice. Yet, it’s the emotion underneath that brings viewers back week after week, and here that is truer than ever.
The finale also marks the end of a successful first season for new head judge Oti Mabuse. The former winner of Strictly has taken to her new job with enthusiasm, and, just like everyone else, is swept away as the Rose of Tralee blooms on the dance floor.
The Oscars will be doing well to match this finale for sheer, heart-on-shiny-sleeve emotion.
