Ilona Maher couldn’t be happier with completing her first nine of the Dancing with the stars season despite some confusion on the part of the judge Carrie Ann Inaba.

“At first I wasn’t sure because she held up an eight and then a ten, and I got really confused and you couldn’t see anything,” Maher, 28, told exclusively We weekly after the Tuesday, October 22 episode of the ABC competition series.

Her partner, Alan Berstenstill wore his donkey mask from the couple’s Disney Night routine as the scores were announced. “I couldn’t see anything,” he teased. “But I felt the nine.”

The duo scored 25 out of 30 points for their jazz dance to “Surface Pressure” from the animated film Encanto. Maher embodied the role of Luisa Madrigal for the performance, while Bersten, 30, and the DWTS The group performed the donkeys from the 2021 film’s memorable musical number.

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Ilona Maher returned on Dancing With the Stars’ Dedication Night, but she still has her sights set higher. “I was hoping for higher scores, but I also just wanted to get better from last week and get back on the horse and feel better about it,” the 28-year-old Maher told Us Weekly exclusively after Tuesday (…)

Inaba, 56, and fellow judges Derek Hough And Bruno Tonioli reminded Maher and Bersten to balance their mix of storytelling and dancing. Maher told Us that it was “so much fun” to embrace her inner Disney persona, but also understood their criticism.

“Every week we listen and try to get better, and he always listens,” she said. “So I think we’ll try to give them a lot next week, whether that’s steps and choreo.”

Maher and Bersten finished the evening with a total score of 34 points after scoring all nines for them A crazy movie group dance along Joey Graziadei And Jenna Johnson, Jen Tran And Sasha Farber And Chandler Kinney And Brandon Armstrong. During the upbeat routine, Maher lifted Johnson, 30, into the air, which Hough, 39, said was the “best lift in the entire competition.”

Bertsen said Us he both agreed and disagreed with Hough’s comment. “The lift she gave me at the end (of our ‘Surface Pressure’ dance), by putting me on her shoulders… That’s iconic,” he said. “Come on! But no disrespect.”

For her part, Maher said lifting people comes easily because of her career as a professional rugby player. “Every time they do it in practice, they’re like, ‘Oh, my God. That’s so cool.’ And I thought, ‘That’s something I do all the time,'” she joked.

Bersten continued praising his partner and telling Us“She picked Jenna up with her arms outstretched. She just put her there. And that is very difficult. A lot of guys can’t do that. Ilona has so much strength and she just knows how to lift. She listens very well. She learns very well. And it’s just great to see that.”

Maher returned the kind words, calling Bersten “magical” and sharing how he made dance feel “really special” for her. “There’s never been a dance where I’ve thought, ‘Oh, I don’t feel good,’ or, ‘I don’t feel like I look good,’” she said Us. “For example, he always makes me believe in myself and really feel, ‘Oh, you’re doing really well.'”

Bersten then called Maher “unique,” ​​adding, “She is selfless. She tries harder than anyone I’ve ever met. She trusts me. And she just goes out there and it’s so beautiful to see her being herself. And when Ilona is on that floor and righteous, and believes in herself, there is nothing more beautiful. So it’s magical.”

The pair moved on to next week’s Halloween Nightmares episodes. Phaedra Parks and professional dancer Val Chmerkovskiy were eliminated.

Dancing with the stars will air simultaneously on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays on ABC at 8pm ET. The next day you can stream episodes on Disney+.

With Carly Konsker reporting