DWTS’ Rory O’Neill says Enoch Burke would consider him a ‘lost cause’

“I think Enoch and his family would consider me a lost cause,” said Rory, aka Panti Bliss.

“I don’t think it matters what I do on Dancing With The Stars, whether I win the trophy or set the dance world alight… I don’t think they’re going to be changing their minds about queer people in the world.”

Evangelical Christian Burke has this week been standing outside the school he was fired from, having already spent 108 days in Mountjoy for refusing to purge a contempt of court.

Mr Burke told a court that by agreeing to comply with the order would amount to an acceptance by him of trans people.

On whether a shot on the next series could be on the cards for the teacher, Rory laughed: “Well, he would have to dance very close with another human being in sexual poses; I do not believe that Mammy would be thrilled about it.”

A rumour that the drag queen will some day enter politics or make a run for president has long followed Panti, but Rory firmly ruled out a bid for the Áras.

“It’s hard for me to behave. And I think, to get into politics, you have to behave.

“On Dancing With The Stars they practically have to separately employ somebody to run over and tell me to stop talking when I’m not supposed to be talking and stop making funny faces behind whoever is being interviewed.

“If they wanted me to behave, I wouldn’t have been invited on the show. Nobody invites me anywhere expecting me to behave.”

PantiBar has been the destination for a number of post-show parties for the Dancing With The Stars celebs — and former State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy is always the first out and last to leave along with Eurovision star Brooke Scullion.

Rory says the support on the show has “surprised” him, confessing that he hadn’t really watched it properly before, but now viewers stop him on the street.

However, the gay rights activist is no stranger to “nasty” comments online. But he admits that despite being prepared for the droves of trolls that would come during the show, they never arrived.

“Homophobes and all that aren’t watching Dancing With The Stars! I don’t think the viewership encompasses that,” he said.

“If you have a problem with people being gay, it’s not really the show for you, is it? All of the glitter and sequins and all of that.”

Rory co-founded PantiBar in 2007 and has been public about the homophobic attacks that have targeted the Dublin gay bar.

“One of the only silver linings is that people are finally beginning to take the threat [of right wing individuals] seriously because members of certain groups in the world at the moment — we’ve been taking it seriously for quite a while,” the Mayo native said.

“[PantiBar] has been attacked. The bar has had windows broken, We’ve had graffiti. We get weird letters and nonsense all the time. And, of course, on Twitter — stuff there sometimes is absolutely horrifying.

“More and more, people are fully prepared to have their name and face out there. So the people involved in anti-immigrant protests are well-known to me. They’re not new names or new faces.”

“Obviously, I have the gay vote locked up,” he laughs. “But quite a lot of ladies of a certain age tell me that me and Dr Marie are their favourites.

“Now they might be just saying that to me and really their favourite is Dr Marie… but I suspect that the fact we’re the two oldest contestants probably has something to do with it.”

• Dancing with the Stars is on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player tonight at 6:30pm.