DWTS judge Karen Byrne and her boyfriend Jake Carter have revealed they won’t be pressured to get engaged anytime soon.
The young stars became the original Dancing With The Stars couple back in 2018 when their romance brewed on the hit RTE series.
Karen was assigned as Jake‘s pro-partner on the series and the pair even went on the win the coveted Glitterball trophy.
Jake previously joked with RTE saying: “I secretly don’t want her to win with anyone else so I can keep saying that I was the reason we won.”
These days the couple lives together in Dublin and work at their beloved Jake and Karen Stage School, which is funded totally by the star‘s themselves.
And although they may be smitten with one another, it looks like their won’t be wedding bells anytime soon.
Jake admitted to EVOKE: “We think that’s a cliché. I think when you get when you’re with somebody for so long, that’s just the question everybody asks.”
Karen wholeheartedly agreed: “I don’t think it’s the be-all and end-all of a relationship really, is it?!’
The 32-year-old is six years older than her singer boyfriend, but the loved up pair have never been fazed by their age difference stating: “It doesn’t really matter to us.”
The Dublin beauty told EVOKE: “I think I’ve only seen the one article, and that was the only time that I actually thought about it.
‘Maybe it’s just me, like Jake’s brother was only slagging me the other day. He was like, ‘Karen, you barely know what age you are yourself!’ and I was like, ‘You know, it’s true’.”
This year, two-time winner Karen hung up her dancing shoes and took a seat beside longstanding DWTS judges Loraine Barry, Brian Redmond and Arthur Gourounlian.
Karen told The Irish Sun: “It will feel strange sitting on the other side of the desk. I can’t believe it — I have to pinch myself! It doesn’t feel real.
“I don’t think it will feel real until I sit in the chair. I’ve always looked at the judges’ seats and thought that must be the best seat in the house. Oh my god, I get to hold a (score) paddle!”
The Ballyfermot woman was a 24-year-old Latin dance champ with zero TV experience when producers cast her in series one of Dancing With The Stars in 2017.
Karen previously confessed: “I went into that show with not a clue what I had signed up for. I didn’t know about live TV. For instance, I didn’t know the red light meant we were live”.
ICONIC ROUTINE
Yet Karen choreographed one of the most celebrated dance routines in the history of DWTS when she did the ‘Dessie Swim’ with Sunday Game host Des Cahill.
Viewers watched as Des ‘swam’ across the dancefloor dressed as comic movie spy, Austin Powers.
One DWTS insider told The Irish Sun on Sunday: “Karen will be tough as nails as a judge because she’s done every dance.
“It’s a natural move, as Anton Du Beke started as a pro dancer on BBC’s Strictly and ended up as a judge.”
‘SHOW IN ITSELF’
While Head DWTS judge Loraine Barry has welcomed the move commenting: “Karen is fresh off the dance floor into the judging seat and I look forward to working with her.”
However things could heated with rival judge Brian Redmond, who regularly spars with Karen over his scores on the Sunday night show.
Brian joked: “It could almost be a show in its own right really, the guff that goes backwards and forwards”.
Commenting on her promotion to sit next to him, Brian said: “I’m sure she’ll challenge me, and maybe I’ll challenge her, but it all makes for great excitement ahead of the new year.
