Dancing With The Stars contestant Jack Woolley has revealed how the brutal homophobic attack he suffered in Dublin's city centre inspired his partner to become a garda.
The Taekwondo Olympian said the horrific assault, which made national headlines in August 2021, occurred just a fortnight into his relationship with Dave Stig.
The athlete required surgery after he was taken to St. James’s Hospital following the unprovoked attack.
But Woolley said the traumatic incident made his then-new partner determined to join An Garda Síochána. He told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘One of reasons why Dave actually wanted to get into it [the force] was after what happened to me.
He said he had always thought of wanting to go into the guards, but we’d actually only been together two weeks when that happened to me.’ Woolley said their relationship ‘was quite secret’ at the time, as Dave had not yet come out to his own family and friends.
‘He wasn’t able to kind of do anything about it [the attack] because he had his own struggles at the time. But it’s kind of something
that inspired him to go into the guards and try and get a little bit of justice for other people who might be in a similar situation.’
Woolley admits he felt ‘let down’ by the Garda response to his attack. ‘I didn’t get a follow-up [from the guards],’ he said.
‘I only met them once, so it was a little bit of a letdown. Like, even though I was in the media and it was all over the papers.
‘I was on news all around the world, Sky News, everything. I had just come back from the Olympics, and for there to be no
follow-up…’
The Olympian said his partner was also ‘disappointed with the way that it was kind of handled’, adding: ‘Now he kind of wants to
step in himself and kind of take that job on himself.’
Woolley has since put the traumatic incident aside and has been in flying form while waltzing his way to the final stages of the hit RTÉ show.
He and pro partner Alex Vladimirov got a standing ovation from the judges for their flawless performance to the Irish classic Grace, which he dedicated to his close friend and fellow Olympian Kellie Harrington, who was in tears in the audience.
Woolley said the double Olympic gold medal-winning boxer contacted him as soon as she heard about the attack and has
supported him ever since.
‘There were seven of us. Random people who didn’t know each other were attacked, and other people were hit with bottles,’ he said. ‘And you never know who has a knife. No matter how well trained your martial arts are, boxing-like, you’re not gonna out-beat a knife realistically or something like that. I don’t think she would have had any impact.
‘And if something had happened to Kellie, that would have broken my heart even more. So I’m kind of glad I got away with, unfortunately, what happened to me. ‘[It] wasn’t ideal, but I think I got away quite lucky.’
Woolley also revealed he plans to spend the rest of his life with his partner Dave. And although he has yet to pop the question, his dance partner, Alex, has agreed to coach the couple for their first dance at the wedding.
‘I’ll be the one doing the asking – I’m a bit of a control freak! But I’ll be the one proposing. I’ve got the wedding song picked; it’s a Kylie Minogue number. Alex has the routine worked out – we just need to try and teach Dave how to dance first.’
