Lottie Ryan moves in with husband Fabio Aprile after buying new apartment

Lottie Ryan has revealed that she moved in with husband Fabio Aprile before Christmas.

The couple, who married in May 2017, decided to stay close to Lottie's mother's home in Clontarf, north Dublin.

She told RSVP Live: "We bought an apartment together and we are all settled in. We are in a couple of months at this stage.

"Of course I have stayed Northside, I am around the corner from my Mam."

Lottie and her pro partner Pasquale La Rocca are rehearsing 11 hours a day meaning that she is away from her husband Fabio a lot.

However, Fabio is really understanding because he knows how badly she wants to be on the show.

She explained: "He even said to me the other night, 'You are like a light at the moment, when you come home even though its late'.

"He sees such a difference in me.  I didn't think that myself but if he is saying that to me , I have to take his word for it. So he is really supportive, he is pushing me to enjoy it as much as I can.

"It is going to fly by so quickly, you just don't know what's going to happen next week so I'm just going to try and take in every single moment."

As well as dancing on the show, Lottie is still working full-time on RTE2fm and it is tough balancing her time.

She said: "It is a long day but I love when I go into the training, I think I am knackered when I am in the car going over to the rehearsal room then I get a burst of life.

"So the buzz and adrenalin keeps you going, , I am kind of double jobbing I suppose. But I have bills to pay and I am delighted and lucky."

Lottie is getting a lot of support from her family and both of her sister, Bonnie and Babs,  were in the audience to support her when she topped the leader board on Sunday night.

"I have taken it for granted that they come every week, Fabio comes as well and my mum has come so they are all taking it in turn," she said. "I get more nervous when I know my family is there. Just because I think if I am going catch their eye, it might make me feel more nervous but then its great having their support after the evening has finished. They are there to give you a big hug and its nice."

Lottie praised her 'great teacher' after her contemporary ballroom to Freya Riding's song Castles.

She said: “I think it is one of those dances where you can’t be half way, you have to be completely thrown in. I had a great teacher.”

As a result, she is now favourite to to go all the way and lift the glitterball trophy in March. However, Lottie is not overthinking it and she is trying to focus on each week and each new dance.

She said: "When you get a new dance and you're there on Monday morning and you realise you realistically have four days to learn the choreography and perform the choreography, which is a different thing I have discovered.

"I think that everyone is on the same level of fear, we all train in the same studio so we are all taking our coffee breaks and lunch breaks together, you can feel the same vibe from people, freaking out because they can't learn something.

"Its difficult, its not easy. It is really difficult."