“That was me”- Ilona Maher breaks silence after a major mishap during a stunt sequence at Dancing with the Stars

Ilona Maher recently opened up about the blunder in her routine on the 500th episode of Dancing With the Stars. The rugby player wrapped up her 2024 season after competing at the Paris Olympics.

The 28-year-old proved her billing as a formidable rugby player at the 2024 Summer Games by clinching the first-ever Olympic medal for the USA in this sport. Her team faced the Australian team in the bronze medal match and trounced them with a score of 14-12.

Before this, Maher also competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where she and her team earned the sixth position behind Australia. However, now, after her success at the Paris Olympics, the player is currently competing in the show Dancing With the Stars alongside her dance partner, Alan Bersten.

The 28-year-old recently performed on the 500th episode of the show, which consisted of two rounds; in the second one, the contestants had to compete in an instant dance round, where the couples were given a dance style and a song to perform just five minutes before getting on the stage. Maher and Bersten got salsa for the performance and danced to "Da Dip" by Freak Nasty.

However, there was an error in the performance as Maher couldn't smoothly land a lift in the routine. She opened up about the same in an interview with Entertainment News, taking responsibility for the mess up in the routine.

"Everyone hated the lift, that's my fault, did not feel that bad. Here's the thing, that was me, I didn't land softly and that's my own fault. That's my bad, that was my bad," said Ilona Maher. (0:17 onwards..)

She also spoke about her thoughts about the instant dance round:

"I honestly was not that panicked. I was actually having some fun.

Her dance partner, Bestern, also reflected his thoughts on the second round:

"Honestly, it was nice, like we haven't rehearsed; if you messed up, there's a reason why you messed up."

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Ilona Maher opened up about the training for DWTS

In an interview with Good Morning America, Ilona Maher reflected on her training for the DWTS and said that it felt like the Olympics.

"It's been almost like another Olympics in a way; I think I knew that it could be really big," said Ilona Maher.

She also said that she went out of her comfort zone for the show. Along with her, Alan Bersten also spoke about his thoughts on the players' performances:

"It's amazing! She's the first female partner to lift her male partner on the show, and it's just awesome," said Bersten.

To this, Maher replied:

"For me it's the showing that how powerful and how important it is to be strong physically and mentally, like to see my muscular body that is not that flexible. Still haven't learned to do a split, probably won't."

In the 500th episode of the Dancing with the Stars show, Ilona Maher got her first 10 of the season.