Ilona Maher is a finalist on season 33 of Dancing With the Stars.After the show, she’d like to return to the rugby pitch in the Women’s World Cup, she tells Women’s Health.The competition has made her view her body differently, she says.
Ilona Maher already has an Olympic bronze medal and millions of followers on TikTok and Instagram—plus, she’ll soon be competing for the coveted Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy during the Dancing With the Stars season 33 finale. And even though the competition is almost over, the 28-year-old won’t be retiring from sports anytime soon.
“I do want to get back into rugby,” she exclusively tells Women’s Health in support of her partnership with Orgain. “That’s my home. That’s where I feel the best and where I thrive.”
Ilona hopes to play overseas, nothing that the Women’s Rugby World Cup will be held in England in 2025. “I think we have an opportunity to do something big there,” she says. “I’d love to be a part of history.”
For now, she’s focusing on perfecting her routines with partner Alan Bersten. She’ll be competing against fellow Olympian Stephen Nedoroscik (and his partner Rylee Arnold), actress Chandler Kinney (along with her pro Brandon Armstrong), football player Danny Amendola (his partner is Witney Carson) and Bachelor lead Joey Graziadei (plus pro Jenna Johnson).
And when all is said and done, Ilona won’t be focusing on the votes—instead, she’s looking forward to all the memories she can share with her loved ones.
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“What I want to take away is, like, ‘Dang, I did that. I went out there in front of millions of people and I ballroom danced,'” she says. “I was scared to do it—you don’t see bodies like me dancing like that—so I just want to tell my kids, my grandkids, ‘You know what? I did that.'”
Over the course of the season, Ilona has been an advocate for the body positivity movement, even inspiring a TikTok trend where women accept themselves after seeing Ilona’s example.
In the future, she’d like to continue speaking out about body positivity. But even she was surprised about the way Dancing With the Stars changed how she looks at herself.
“It’s a whole 180 from what I do with rugby. In rugby, I’m as powerful and brutal as possible. In dance, it’s like, ‘Can you be graceful? Can you move across the floor?'” she says. “It’s been a really cool thing to learn what more my body can do, because I’m always encouraging other girls and boys to go out there and try things and see what’s capable for themselves.”
The Dancing With the Stars finale airs Tuesday, November 26 at 8/7c on ABC and Disney+.
Charlotte Walsh (she/her) is an associate news editor with Women’s Health, where she covers the intersection of wellness and entertainment. Previously, she worked as a writer at The Messenger, E! News, and Netflix. In her free time, she enjoys reality television, tennis and films starring Nicole Kidman.
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