Olympic athlete Ilona Maher I was nervous about performing Dancing with the Stars For the first time — especially when she first got the score.
“I guess I’ll have to wait and see what their feedback is because I’m stunned,” Maher, 28, told the exclusive. Our Week After the premiere DYTS Tuesday, September 17th.
Maher didn’t get all the feedback, but her partner did. Alan BerstenI wrote some notes for her to share. Derek Hope He mentioned how “confident” she was and how he wanted to see more of that confidence in her dancing. (The pair earned an 18/30 for “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” on Cha Cha.) Shania Twain.)
“I think the most important thing is that when we practice, in rugby we perform when we practice,” she explained. Us. “So when I practice, even when I learn the steps, he wants me to smile, act, and have fun, but in rugby, when I practice, he says, ‘Okay, just do it like this.’ It doesn’t matter what my face looks like. So I think that’s something I have to get better at.”
The two-time Olympian said the first day’s performance was “really exciting” despite her nerves.
“I’m so happy that we just did it,” she shared. “I feel like we’ve been practicing for a long time. I’ve always been someone who likes to practice, but I love game time, I love practicing. So it’s been really fun, and I think it’s going to get better and better.”
Maher, who had just returned from the Paris Olympics where he won bronze in rugby, admitted he “wasn’t that sore” in his first game. DYTS Practice.
“I run and I work out. … Alan and I worked out recently. We did an assault bike workout. That was the most sore I’ve ever been in,” she said. Us, However, she added that her feet hurt and she got blisters from dancing.
“So I’ll always remember the times I danced,” she joked.
Maher and Bersten, 30, during their internship DYTS After five seasons as pros, they quickly became close friends after bonding over workouts and bagels in New York.
“The Brooklyn bagel was incredible. I made it for her. It was the first bagel I ate in five minutes,” Bersten joked.
Alan Bersten and Ilona Maher
Disney/Eric McCandlessMaher said the two connected through food, and then through “exercise and strength training.”
“It’s great to have a partner who pushes me to be strong and really use my body,” she added.
As reported by Carly Konsker:
