The two time Irish Olympic taekwondo athlete says that competing on Dancing with the Stars has given him a new strength that he will take with him into the next Olympics
Jack Woolley says Dancing With the Stars has been the change he needed, crediting it with giving him a new found mental strength.
The first ever athlete to represent Ireland in taekwondo at the Olympic Games, Jack made his debut with Team Ireland at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and most recently, he competed at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
While he was awarded silver medals at the European Championships in 2022 and the European Games in 2023, along with bronze medals at the Taekwondo Grand Prix in 2018 and 2022, he has yet to get his first Olympic medal.
“I wanted a change after Paris, it was a strange few months. So I took some time, a few weeks to myself to enjoy with my partner, friends and family which I haven't got to do before and set my mind to a change," he says.
“I’ve been to two Olympics now and they haven’t got me onto the podium. So I thought, okay, reassess. What do I do for this Olympic cycle to make a change and come away with the medal at the next one? So I moved over to Madrid to pursue LA 2028 and then I got the call for Dancing with the Stars,” he told RSVP.
“The dancing is helping me grow mentally, I'm still in my head a little bit and being a perfectionist, but I've seen massive improvements already."
The two time Irish Olympic taekwondo athlete added: “I've realised the growth I've made in such a short space of time and hopefully our journey isn't going to be cut short because to see the growth I've already made, it's just such an amazing feeling.
“Taekwondo is very fitness based, this is a little bit less, but I'm having to use my brain a lot more. It's a lot more challenging mentally, which is something that I struggle with.”
The biggest source of strength for Jack comes from partner Dave as he admits: "You know, when I'm with Dave, I feel like all the problems in the world kind of disappear.
“I’m more myself when I’m around him than I would be with anyone else, we're able to kind of have a giggle, like our inner child comes out when we're together. I think that's probably the most lovely thing about our relationship. I've never had that really with anyone else.”
He tells us the big whistle we can hear ahead of each one of his dances as the room falls silent is thanks to Dave. He adds: “At the start of the show, I always just have to make eye contact with him and think, yeah, I've got this. And then just perform because the dance is about putting on a character, so when I know he's there I'm doing it for him, everybody else isn't even there."
Jack met Dave, who works as a personal trainer, a week after he returned home from the Tokyo Olympics.
And while the couple both still live at home, they spend nearly every day together, with Jack laughingly telling us that his partner is already outside waiting to collect him.
“His love language is [acts] of service, he always wants to be there for me so he'll drive me here and there because I don't have a license, so I'm the passenger princess!
“He always wants to be there to support me so he’ll bring us snacks into the studio and give us water and chocolates, it's very sweet.”
Dancing With The Stars airs Sunday nights at 6.30pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player
