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    • What you need to know about ‘Dancing With the Stars’ favorite Ilona Maher
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    What you need to know about ‘Dancing With the Stars’ favorite Ilona Maher

    Vaseline Posted on

    Maher, an Olympic rugby player, social media star and “Dancing With the Stars” contestant, has become a fan favorite heading into the semifinals. She is also known for her figure and body positivity.

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    An Olympic pop culture sensation, Ilona Maher has taken the internet and TV screens by storm this year, capturing the minds and hearts of sports fans, dance enthusiasts and social media users.

    Maher was originally known for her role as center for the US national rugby sevens team and her contribution to capturing the bronze at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Thanks to her online presence, Maher achieved a new level of fame.

    She showed that in addition to her medal-winning muscles, she could also flex her funny muscles, amassing millions of followers thanks to her trendy, humorous posts and her advocacy for women in sports.

    With the semifinals of “Dancing With the Stars” approaching, Maher has her eyes on another win to close out 2024, this time with dance partner Alan Bersten by her side.

    Here’s what you need to know about Olympian and “Dancing With the Stars” semifinalist Ilona Maher.

    Who is Ilona Maher?

    Ilona Delsing Rosa Maher is an American professional rugby player. Now 28, Maher began her rugby career at the age of 17, playing for the South Burlington School Rugby Football Club in Burlington, Vermont.

    After a brief stint at Norwich University, she was recruited to play at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut, where her many accolades include three wins in the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) championship, the prestigious MA Sorensen Award and Most Outstanding Player at the NIRA Championships include. .

    She graduated with a degree in nursing in 2018 and received a master’s degree in business administration from DeVry University in 2022.

    She was recruited to the US national rugby sevens team and made her debut in 2018 at a Women’s SVNS tournament in Paris. She attended the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, where the U.S. Women’s Sevens team took home the bronze.

    Ilona Maher’s social media stardom

    During her first Olympics, Maher experienced her first taste of internet virality and gained popularity through her social media posts. At the 2024 Olympics, her fame exploded into pop culture as she gathered fans not only thanks to her humorous posts that followed the latest trends and memes, but also thanks to her criticism of body shaming and her passion for body positivity and women’s sports.

    In one of her hyper-popular posts shared on TikTok on July 10, she responded to a comment criticizing her weight, saying, “I bet that person has a BMI of 30%,” implying that Maher was overweight.

    “I think you were trying to roast me, but this is actually a fact. I have a BMI of 30. Well, 29.3 to be exact. I have been considered ‘overweight’ my entire life,” Maher began her blow. was viewed 8.4 million times.

    After explaining the intricacies of BMI and sharing information with her dietitian about how it is not a useful measure for athletes, she ended: “I have a BMI of 30, I’m considered overweight. But unfortunately, I’m going to the Olympics and that’s not you.”

    With dozens of TikTok posts averaging between 1.5 and 17 million views and a follower count of 3.1 million, Maher has also become a darling on Instagram, where she has 4.3 million followers.

    In September, Maher appeared in a swimsuit on the cover of “Sports Illustrated” with the tagline “Beast. Beauty. Brains.”

    During her “Dancing With the Stars” stint, her posts have shifted from behind the scenes of the Olympic Village to behind-the-scenes looks at her performances and training with Bersten. The pair have become fan favorites, with many comments saying the duo inspired them to tune into the show for the first time in years.

    Ilona Maher about ‘Dancing with the stars’

    As of this week, Maher and Bersten reached the semi-finals. In addition to leaning into their silly sides to win personality votes, the dancing duo has also turned heads by using Maher’s stature to their advantage (she’s 6 feet tall and weighs 200 pounds), pulling off some gender role reversals with lifts and performed other acrobatic movements. movements that are usually performed with the male dance partner as a basis.

    Maher often turns Bersten over her shoulder or hoists him high into the air with impressive maneuvers, receiving extra praise for doing so in high heels. In addition to trading flips and dips back and forth, the duo is also known for their deep friendship behind the scenes and explosive chemistry on stage.

    Maher has been recognized not only for her improvement and technique throughout the season, but also for her sporty, dazzling costumes that showcase her strength and athleticism as well as her beauty and femininity.

    During an extremely popular dance for Disney night, Maher dressed up as “Encanto” character Luisa Madrigal, whose gift in the film is physical strength. Dancing to the movie character’s song “Surface Pressure,” Maher’s performance inspired viral reactions from fans online, with some saying they cried watching her performance, while others thanked her for “doing well for every little girl who just wanted to be’. strong AND beautiful!!”

    In another performance that sparked reactions online and beyond, the pair danced a Halloween-themed tango, during which some steamy, sexy moments between the two caused fans online to almost go wild (seriously, read the comments at your own risk). Fans are anxious to see the two get together in real life, although Maher has assured viewers that the two are just “besties” and “teammates.”

    How to Watch Ilona Maher on “Dancing With the Stars”

    Season 33 of “Dancing with the Stars” returns Tuesday, November 18 for its semi-final episode. New episodes air at 8pm ET/PT on ABC and Disney+. They will be available for streaming after the live shows end on Hulu.

    Fans can vote at www.dwtsvote.abc.com or by text to 21523 when the live broadcast begins.

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