Through Taylor Swift voiceover, Ilona Maher sends heartwarming message of gratitude to fans amid her move to Bristol Bears

Ilona Maher shared an emotional note of gratitude for her fans using a popular voiceover of pop icon Taylor Swift. Maher enjoyed tremendous success in 2024, both on the field at the Paris Olympics and later at Dancing With The Stars.

Maher scored tries in all of the group-stage matches of the USA Rugby Sevens team at the Olympics before leading them to a bronze medal victory. She earned a call to Dancing With The Stars thanks to her viral TikToks from the games and placed runner-up with partner Alan Bersten.

The 28-year-old also signed a three-month contract with Women's Premiership Rugby club Bristol Bears. Amid all the achievements for her, Maher was full of gratitude to her fans for their constant support. Sharing a series of clips from her illustrious 2024 season with an emotional voiceover from Taylor Swift, the two-time Olympian expressed her love for her fans, writing:

"You all make it so worth it. I love you."

Swift's voiceover was from her 2009 interview with Marie Claire, where she explained how she never got tired of making her dreams true.

"I get tired a lot, but I never get tired of it. I remember when I was a little kid and I used to sit there and think about how lucky I would be if some day people cared about the words that I wrote or how lucky I would be if someday I was just walking through the mall and saw some little girl walking by with my face on her t-shirt," she said.

"When you spend so much time daydreaming about things like that, when that actually happens you don't ever complain about it," Swift added.

Maher is experiencing a similar level of success at the moment as she inspires young girls through her fun Rugby videos on TikTok.

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"We want to get more players into the game - where are those players? They're on TikTok watching my little videos"- Ilona Maher

Bristol Bears v Leinster Rugby - Ilona Maher speaks - Source: Getty

Ilona Maher is the most followed Rugby player in the world with a massive 4.7 million Instagram followers and 3.4 million TikTok followers. The two-time Olympian has been posting comical videos around Rugby on the latter since the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and believes is serving as inspiration for the next generation of athletes.

Speaking about the need for reforms in the sport during an appearance on the Rugby Union Weekly podcast, she said:

"We have to grow as the world changes and as society changes. We want to get more players into the game - where are those players? They're on TikTok. They're scrolling the apps, they're watching my little videos and going 'oh, look at this girl play rugby'," Maher said.

Ilona Maher will play Rugby 15s instead of sevens following her move to the Women's Premiership Rugby, which is aimed at getting a shot at the 2025 World Cup. She intends to return to sevens to compete at the 2028 LA Olympics.