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American rugby union player Ilona Maher and her Dancing With The Stars partner Alan Bersten recently made their feelings known on being 'shipped' together by fans online. The pair were contestants on the 33rd season of DWTS, and finished as runner-ups in the season finale. Bersten is a professional Latin and ballroom dancer, and recently performed alongside Maher on the DWTS live tour.
Ilona Maher won the bronze medal in Rugby Sevens for Team USA at the Paris Olympics in 2024. She also competed at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. Maher began playing rugby at the age of 17 and was recruited by Quinnipiac University, where she helped them win three national championships as a center.
Bersten and Maher shared their thoughts on being 'shipped' together on the Olympian's new podcast called House of Maher, which she hosts alongside her sisters, Olivia and Adrianna.
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"We get a lot of 'shippers' online of us, but I think what we built was like a really beautiful friendship and I think people aren't used to seeing that, of like a man and a woman who just genuinely enjoy time [together]. I think what was special and what people don't get to see often is a sort of friendship like that, where it's like people who enjoy spending time together for a common goal, and like we love the shippers, it was so funny to us but genuinely I hope we're friends for life," she said (45:40 onwards).
Bersten also added that they always just have fun together:
"I think like our friendship was so special again it's because you know, we were just having fun."
Maher's new podcast with her sisters has performed extremely well on social platforms, with their official YouTube channel gathering over 8,000 subscribers.
Ilona Maher announces her retirement from dance following DWTS Live Tour
Olympic bronze medal winner Ilona Maher recently announced that she would be stepping away from dancing after competing on the DWTS live tour. The DWTS Live Tour was co-hosted by Olympic gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik and featured special guests such as Joey Graziadei, Chandler Kinney, and Maher herself.
The tour will end on April 19th at the Rosemont Theatre in Illinois, with Maher last performing on April 5th. Maher shared a post on Instagram, discussing her 'retirement' from dance.
"The dance world will miss me for sure," she wrote in her caption.
Ilona Maher made her appearance on DWTS only a few months after helping Team USA win the bronze medal against Australia at the Paris Olympics.
