{"id":301862,"date":"2026-01-24T20:19:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T20:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/301862\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T20:19:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T20:19:13","slug":"dancing-with-the-stars-contestant-philip-doyle-reveals-how-a-car-crash-led-to-him-finding-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/301862\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Dancing with the Stars\u2019 contestant Philip Doyle reveals how a car crash led to him finding love"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Olympic athlete, who scored a strong 29 points in the competition last week, is hoping to push into the 30s this week\n<\/p>\n

The 33-year-old from Banbridge, Co Down, won bronze for Ireland in the men\u2019s double sculls at the Paris Olympics in 2024.<\/p>\n

He is also a trained doctor for the NHS, and revealed that a few people on the RT\u00c9 show have come to him for medical advice, saying \u201cone particular culprit\u201d keeps coming back for more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll not name her, but she\u2019s a devil for getting the free advice,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The rower is currently splitting his time between Banbridge, where his family and girlfriend, ICU nurse Tiffany McDonald, live, and Dublin, where he trains with dance partner Daniela Roze.<\/p>\n

\u201cTiffany is a little bit disappointed at the amount of time I\u2019ve spent in Dublin, because she\u2019s still back up in Banbridge, but I travelled up to spend a bit of time with her, because she can\u2019t make it this weekend, but she\u2019ll be at every other show, hopefully,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n

I just messaged her and said, who\u2019s your friend?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The couple met after the Olympic rower crashed into a tree in front of her friend\u2019s house.<\/p>\n

Doyle was driving home when he skidded through a T-junction and crashed into a tree.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went in [to the house], and then the girl goes, \u2018Oh, I know who you are,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd she said, \u2018Oh, you\u2019re Philip Doyle. And I said, \u2018Cool, can I borrow your phone?\u2019. And then, \u2018Sorry about your tree\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI followed her back on Instagram or whatever it was.<\/p>\n

\"Philip<\/p>\n

Philip Doyle with pro partner Daniela Roze on \u2018Dancing with the Stars\u2019. Photo: Kyran O\u2019Brien<\/p>\n

\u201cShe popped up on a night out with her friends and I just messaged her and said, \u2018Who\u2019s your friend?\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that was it. So we\u2019re going out four-and-a-half years now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before the run-up to the qualifiers for the next Olympics, the rower is taking the time to enjoy the opportunities that come with fame.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I first got the email [inviting him to participate in Dancing with the Stars], it was back last June,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd initially I thought, \u2018Oh, I\u2019d love to do it\u2019. But then I thought to myself, \u2018No, I can\u2019t do it. I shouldn\u2019t do it\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

I listen to a lot of Zach Bryan, Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs, sort of new-age country<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Doyle mulled it over, but once he had secured a bronze in the men\u2019s double sculls final at the World Championships in Shanghai last year, he felt it was time for some fun.<\/p>\n

Last Sunday the Olympic rower danced a paso doble with Roze while dressed as Superman.<\/p>\n

The pair secured a solid score of 29 points, but Doyle is hoping to push into the 30s this week as he believes more is expected of him in the competition as an athlete.<\/p>\n

\"Philip<\/p>\n

Philip Doyle dressed as Superman on ‘Dancing with the Stars’. Photo: Kyran O’Brien<\/p>\n

News in 90 seconds Saturday January 24<\/p>\n

Doyle and Roze will be dancing to Rhinestone Cowboy by Glen Campbell.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a big fan of country,\u201d Doyle said. \u201cI listen to a lot of Zach Bryan, Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs, sort of new-age country.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we grew up with Johnny Cash \u2013 my dad would listen to all those songs.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Olympic athlete, who scored a strong 29 points in the competition last week, is hoping to push…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":301863,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[5071,18,117,19,17,73575,1181],"class_list":{"0":"post-301862","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-dancing-with-the-stars","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-paris-2024-olympics","14":"tag-rte"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115951931533358439","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301862\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/301863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}