Brian Dowling, the openly gay television personality and past winner of Big Brother, has shared he would love to be part of the very first same-sex dance pairing on Ireland’s Dancing With The Stars. However, Brian’s wish will only come true if he manages to make it quite far into the competition.

Brian’s current partner is the hugely talented pro-dancer Laura Nolan, but if Dowling makes it as far as ‘Switch Up’ week, he will be able to select another partner for that episode of the show.

In an interview with The Sun, Brian shared, “I’d love the opportunity to dance with a guy. I know ShinAwil and RTÉ are keen to do this too. To me, it’s about the visibility, I’m married to an openly gay guy and this is something I really want to do.”

Brian even suggested possible partners – “I love John Nolan who is dancing with Mary Kennedy this season and won last year with Mairead Ronan. John is phenomenal, or Kai Widdrington, the Italian Stallion, who is dancing with model Grainne Gallanagh, or best of all, Pasquale La Rocca who’s dancing with Lottie Ryan, and who looks like my husband which is a bit weird.”

Time will tell if Brian Dowling achieves his dream to become the first same-sex couple in the Irish version of the hugely popular format. Although its UK counterpart has not seen a celebrity matched with a same-sex pro-dancer partner as of yet, Strictly Come Dancing did see two of their professionals paired up for a landmark same-sex dance routine which received hugely positive responses, with viewers on social media sharing how it had moved them to tears and praising the show’s producers for its inclusion.

However, there’s always some, as the show received 189 complaints from begrudging viewers who felt it was “offensive to feature two men dancing as a pair”. In response to the complaints, the BBC released the statement, “Strictly Come Dancing is an inclusive show and is proud to have been able to facilitate the dance between Johannes and Graziano during the Professionals’ dance. They are dancers first and foremost, and their sex had no bearing on their routine.”