DANCING With The Stars judge Julian Benson has revealed that dance has kept him alive during his battle with Cystic Fibrosis.

The judge, affectionately known as 'Captain Sparkle' by fans, said that the secret to his long life is dance and a positive attitude.

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The 48-year-old spoke to James Patrice on the DWTS podcast about how he deals with CF.

He said: "I had cystic fibrosis but Cystic fibrosis never had me I never let define me. I always had my dreams I had all my passions.

"When I was young I always wanted to dance. It was in my heart. It was my passion. I lived my dreams and I had an amazing supportive mum and family.

"Family are so important because it helped me keep going. You obviously have your highs and your lows, James, I'd be lying if I didn't say that but it was all about positive mental attitude.

"I believe anything can be achieved in life if you truly want it and if you strive for it and you keep going.

"When you dance it makes you feel good and they say scientifically that dance is great for dementia, great for keeping your body fit and if I'm honest with you, dance has kept me alive.

"Dance has helped me beat CF."

And Julian revealed he always had big dreams about what he wanted to do with his life.

He said: "I suppose I just have this resilience in me. #nosurrender. I want people to meet the real Julian and Julian who aspired to be the performer, the artist, the choreographer.

"I think that was just something I had because everybody in life has their own challenge, I just happen to have CF but everyone has their own story and I wanted to get out there and be known for my talents and be known for my personality and who I am.

"And that was just my little challenge that I dealt with and I'm proud now. I went into an industry, I suppose, a dancer.

"It was unheard of for someone with cystic fibrosis to be a professional dancer and that drove me to say, 'I'm going to do this, I'm going to make it, whatever it takes'.

"There were no limits, there were only possibilities for me and I mapped out my career in my head. I knew what I wanted so I wasn't going to let CF hold me back. Why should I?"

The positive judge just released a charity single Cha Cha Boom to raise money for CF and debuted it on Sunday's show which had viewers at home calling for him to represent Ireland in the Eurovision with the catchy tune.

Julian admitted that the pop song had its own positive message.

He said: "I think what you should do is embrace whatever you have. I embrace my CF.

"'Hello Mr CF we're going to live together but we're going to have some guidelines here, we're going to sort out this prenup. I'm going to go on my career path. I'm going to dance and do fashion. I'm going to do all these things.'

"Cha Cha Boom is my message to people 'Get up get out live your dreams, go for your goals, nothing can stop you, just give it your all and feel good'."

The reality of Julian's illness means he appreciates every breathe.

He said: "The doctors have said it, the scientists have said it because my prognosis, when I was born way back in the 70s, it wasn't going to be a good story but I was training, I was dancing, my fitness, my nutrition and that has stood up to me in years because I've built up my bone density, my lung capacity, my flow of oxygen, all of these things that we all take for granted.

"I have to get up in the morning and I have to do about an hour or so of aerate clearance to clear my lungs.

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"I have mucus and I have all of that so every morning and every night, I have to do that before I do anything.

"So before I even start to get glamtastic I have to take my nebulisers, take my machines then do all the - you know when you have a cold and a cough, the phloem - imagine having that every single day and having to clear that out twice a day.

"I actually never said, 'why me?'. I think there's actually a new scientific study that came out very very recently about if you keep your mind in the positive zone you actually tend to live 9-12 months longer if you have a terminal illness or something."

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DWTS judge Julian Benson reveals dance has kept him alive as he opens up about battle with Cystic Fib - The Irish Sun