‘Dancing with the Stars’ was enriched by presence of the man they called Captain Sparkle
He kept it very private. Even from us, and I would have thought I was quite close to him. But it really was only his family and closest friends that knew, until he decided to go public with it.
I first met Julian over 20 years ago, when he was choreographing a UCD fashion show in the RDS. In typical Julian style, it wasn’t just a normal fashion show, it was huge. He was just this larger than life character.
When we got the rights and eventually got RTÉ to do an Irish version of Dancing with the Stars, I always had Julian in the back of my mind.
Not only was it for his choreography skills, but his sheer dynamism, and just his character. I knew he would be a really good person to have on our panel.
We tested a number of people and through all of those screen tests, Julian just popped. He was Captain Sparkle. He was made for that show.
Shortly after, Dancing with the Stars took off. The Irish public loved it and they fell in love with Julian.
During our second season, he got sick again and we had to have a heart to heart, but he said he didn’t want to let his illness, Cystic Fibrosis, define him.
Very few people made it beyond their teenage years and into their twenties, but Julian decided he was going to keep himself as fit as he can and keep going.
Julian Benson at a launch for his cystic fibrosis foundation
Because he was getting sick during the show, he felt it was inevitable he was going to have to talk about it and he very bravely went on national television.
After that, he went into a different sort of overdrive and used the notoriety and the fact that he was now a well-known national personality, to spur him on and put the focus on Cystic Fibrosis and set up his foundation.
It gave him another lust for life and it became absolutely huge for him.
When the Cystic Fibrosis unit opened in St Vincent’s Hospital, he was probably the first patient in and probably the longest one there.
I saw him a number of times in the hospital the last few years. Even though he was incredibly ill, all he wanted to do was talk about life, work and the show.
Few people would have achieved what he was able to squeeze into his life
He even had a running machine in the ward in the hospital. He was determined to keep going.
When we took the year off for Covid with Dancing with the Stars, Julian still showed up, despite being one of the most vulnerable people in society.
He wasn’t going to let something like Covid stop him from entertaining the public.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see Julian in the last few months. It’s a big regret, you would like to have always had a chance to have those last few words.
But thinking back to all those times we did meet, I never once saw Julian dress down. Even when you’d meet him on the weekend, he would dress to impress.
He always looked pristine, flamboyant and absolutely full of zest for life.
Few people would have achieved what he was able to squeeze into his life.
The world has lost a little bit of sparkle. Julian was one of a kind, and will be forever missed, but through his foundation, his legacy will live on.
Larry Bass is chief executive of television production company ShinAwil
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