Suzanne Jackson battles to take part in DWTS after suffering ‘badly bruised’ ribs

“I’m completely smashed up. The pain; I can’t describe it, it’s so sore,” Suzanne (38) told the Sunday World.

The millionaire businesswoman and influencer admits that being flung about so much by dance partner Michael Danilczuk led to not only severe bruised ribs but also a condition called interchondral subluxation, where the ribs click in and out of place.

“Last week we did the American Smooth and there was a big lift in it where Michael puts me over his head and then brings me down on to his waist and spins me. But we basically do a dress run on a Saturday, so we had to do it three times,” she explains.

“Then you do it twice on the Sunday morning, you go over your camera and your lighting again. Then you do a pre-show run at half two, then you do your live show at half six, and then we had to do the dance off.

“So it was eight times within 24 hours and unfortunately with the speed that my body was twisted I’ve really badly bruised ribs now.”

After picking up the injury, Dubliner Sue was forced to go to hospital to seek medical help.

“I’m very restricted this week,” she reveals. “At one stage I wasn’t sure I’d be able to dance this weekend, but I’m feeling a bit better so, hopefully, it all goes according to plan.

“But the problem is we have Charleston this weekend, which is a high energy dance with lots of tricks. One of the tricks is a cartwheel star position twice, so let’s just hope I’m able for this.”

At the beginning of the series Suzanne was the favourite with the bookies to win the show. But last weekend she found herself for the first time in the bottom two. She survived the dance-off with Stephanie Roche being eliminated.

“I’m very much a ‘it is what it is’ [person] — and anything out of my control I don’t get too caught up about,” she says.

“In short, I wasn’t surprised to be in the dance-off because I had an inkling it was going to happen.

“To be honest, you would assume somebody with a high following — and that I’m not doing a bad job — that’s she’s safe, but that’s not the case. Everyone has to get behind the people that they love, whoever you love in the competition people have to pick up the phone and vote.

“But, no, I wasn’t surprised to be in the dance-off, honest.

“And you know what, I actually loved that dance last weekend, that was my favourite dance of the whole eight weeks.

“It was such a Hollywood 1940s era, it’s the kind of era I’m absolutely obsessed with.

“I was only happy to dance that dance twice. If you had asked me to dance my cha cha or my samba for a second time, I would have had a heart attack because Latin dances are so much harder, but I really enjoyed American Smooth.”

Suzanne, who is already a favourite with TV viewers as co-host of the Style Counsellors for the past four years, says she wants to get into more telly presenting and has already revealed she pitched to replace Nicky Byrne on Dancing With The Stars only to find out she was too late and the position had gone to Doireann Garrihy.

“I want to get stuck into more television for sure,” she insists.

“TV is really where I excel. When I’m doing the VTs for DWTS, which are the behind the scenes videos, the camera and production team say ‘Suzanne, you’re so good at this’. I’m like ‘this is the part I am good at, unfortunately I’m not as good as I want to be at dancing’.

“I love TV and live TV gives me a different type of buzz, which I love. It gives me that real good feel, like your adrenaline is pumping, it’s just something special about live TV, but for me I’d love to do more presenting and more television.

“I’m going to get a TV agent potentially this year, maybe even look at getting a UK agent, who knows, the world is my oyster — but I’m definitely going to do more television. I really enjoy it.”

Suzanne, who grew up in Skerries in Dublin before moving to Malahide, says she still wants to buy a property in Portugal with her husband Dylan, but points out when she does she will split her time between Ireland and Portugal.

“We actually put an offer on a house in Portugal last summer, but it fell through. But I do believe everything happens for a reason, so I’m OK with that.

“So we will go back in again this summer and we are going to begin looking again,” she adds.

• Dancing With The Stars is on RTE One tonight at 6.30pm.