Riverdance star Michael Flatley has revealed the extent of damage that years of dancing have done to his body.
The Irish American dancer found fame in the 1990s in hugely successful shows including Riverdance and Lord of the Dance, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.
To commemorate the milestone, Lord of the Dance will be touring the UK once again this autumn – but Flately will not be performing.
The 67-year-old retired in 2016 after two decades of touring. Speaking to The Times in a new interview, Flatley opened up about the physical toll those years took.
“My C1 and C3 [neck vertebrae] down to my T1 and T5 [upper and mid back] are troublesome,” he said. “My L5 [lower back] is also difficult, as are the sacroiliacs [the connections between the spine and pelvis].
“I’ve also got a terrible tear in my right calf muscle that never really healed, problematic achilles tendons, a broken bone in my right foot, two fractured ribs, two shoulders that need replacing …”
Asked whether he regrets inflicting such damage to his body, Flatley said that he “wouldn’t trade it for the world”.
“Never,” he continued. “I’ve made friends with pain. Come on, I got to follow my dream.”
Despite his many physical ailments, Flatley said he feels “fine after I get out of bed and have my two double espressos”.
The ex-professional dancer ran into further health troubles in 2023 when he was diagnosed with cancer for the second time, having been successfully treated in 2003 after a viewer spotted a suspicious brown spot on his face and contacted his personal assistant.
Flatley declined to tell The Times what type of cancer he was most recently diagnosed with, but said that he underwent surgery for treatment. He remains on medication.
“When you’re on that trolley going into theatre, you feel how precious life truly is,” he said, tearing up. “I am a man of faith and it was tested.”
He added: “I will live with it for the rest of my life but I feel good.”
Flatley – who has been an Irish dance champion since he was 17 – became a star overnight after he and his dance troupe performed at the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest, which was held in Ireland. He went on to become a multimillionaire, performing on a bill alongside Celine Dion and Madonna.
Elsewhere in the interview, he was asked about his status as a sex symbol in the Nineties and settling down with his current wife, former Riverdance dancer Niamh O’Brien, to whom he has been married for almost 20 years.
“I have a beautiful wife and a wonderful son,” he said. “But don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed every kiss with every beautiful girl, every sip of Château Latour ’82, every gear change in an Aston Martin and Ferrari, every private jet ride and each of my homes, known as the ‘string of pearls’ designed by the genius Peter Inston.”
In January, Flatley beat a legal bid that blocked him from any involvement with the Lord of the Dance production. A temporary injunction had been secured against the dancer by Switzer Consulting, which alleged a breach of contract over an agreement they claimed would allow them to run the popular dance shows.
The order was overturned by a court in Belfast, with Flatley announcing that he was back in control of the production.
