‘Time running out’ for hit RTE show amid future fears as boss fumes over funding

DANCING with the Stars chief Larry Bass is blaming the Government’s under-funding of RTE for the show’s perilous future — and not station bosses.

Bass fears the hit show will not be back for an eighth series unless it gets the green light soon.

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The station can’t give the go-ahead for the dance show until it’s been approved by the RTE board, who have yet to meet as the clock ticks down.

And Larry says “time is running out” if Dancing with the Stars was to air to TV screens in January.

Larry said: “That decision has to come very soon. It will have to be in the next few weeks, or it will be too late to mount a production of this scale. I feel for the management at RTE with all the other problems they have to deal with right now.

“But if a decision isn’t made on Dancing with the Stars soon, it will be too late trying to get a cast and crew together and meetings with well-known figures trying to sound them out about getting involved.”

The TV producer said the Government was to blame for the continued uncertainty over DWTS each year, not DG Kevin Bakhurst and his team in Montrose.

Larry told The Irish Sun: “RTE has been underfunded for years. Strictly has run for 20 years on the BBC, and Dancing with the Stars could do the same on RTE. RTE should be funded so that DWTS and other successful shows can be locked in for multi-season deals.

“Because the production team on Dancing with the Stars love making the show and it’s become a pillar of Sunday night viewing on RTE.

The popularity of Dancing with the Stars is increasing year on year and you have half a million people viewing for two hours each Sunday night.”

If the show is to return, producers want the big name hosts Doireann Garrihy and Jennifer Zamparelli back despite their RTE woes.

Speculation has been rife about whether the DWTS duo will continue to front the Sunday night programme after they walked out of their high profile shows on 2FM.

However Bass claims their exit from RTE Radio should have no impact on them being on RTE TV.

Larry told The Irish Sun: “We didn’t hire Doireann or Jennifer because of what they did on radio. We hired them for what they can do on TV.

“We are so lucky those two ladies have delivered for us so well. Yes, there have been lots of changes on 2FM, and I really hope that isn’t going to affect our ability to have the same presenting team that has worked for us.

“One of the definitions of an independent production is you get to put your show together in consultation with RTE. And it’s a big risk changing an element that is integral to the success of the show.”

Host controversy

The TV boss also defended Doireann who decided to quit 2FM last month after coming under increased scrutiny over her advertising deals, including the #PorridgeGate controversy, when she used a 2FM studio to shoot an advert for a porridge brand without the permission of RTE bosses.

Larry told us: “With the exception of posting about a porridge brand in 2FM studios, I think Doireann got a bad rap. But any negative commentary Doireann attracted had no impact on Dancing with the Stars.”

Larry said any final discussions over whether Doireann and Jennifer would return to host Dancing with the Stars in 2025 won’t take place until RTE commission an eighth series.

RTE’s Bakhurst attended two live episodes of Dancing with the Stars last season and told The Irish Sun it was the sort of show RTE needed to make.

He said: “It’s expensive but it’s a really important part of our remit to entertain audiences and it does that and it’s fun.”