The 33rd season of Dancing with the stars kicked off in style last week and with 13 new faces, it’s already a buzz! Among the standout participants is none other than 2024 Olympic bronze medalist in women’s rugby sevens, Ilona Maher. Not only did she step onto the dance floor for the first time, she also brought her Olympic fire. With her dance partner Alan Bersten by her side, they rocked out to Shania Twain’s “Man, I feel like a woman” in episode 1. You just knew she was ready to fight!

Ilona’s dance debut wasn’t without its nerves: Her strength was obvious, but her flexibility? That took a while. But once she found her rhythm, she really started to shine! The judges recognized her progress and gave her a solid score of 18, making Ilona beam with joy. She was over the moon and couldn’t stop celebrating her achievement! Fans, along with Bersten, who previously won DWTS season 28 with former Bachelorette Hannah Brow, have been raving about her performance all week – and this is just the beginning!

On a Lightweights Podcast Episode with Joe Vulpis on September 20Alan Bersten stopped by for a nice chat. Alan couldn’t stop raving about how Ilona’s energy lights up a room. He even said, “She has such a good energy about her that I feel like everyone wants to cheer for her.” Alan admitted that there is a certain pressure to be her partner, as he wants her to feel beautiful, confident and completely herself on the dance floor.

Joe came up with a touching story and said: “My wife cried when she saw her performance. It was such a powerful experience for women, they felt so connected to her.” It’s moments like these that highlight how much Ilona’s performances touch people. Alan can only agree. So he kept certain things in mind while training Ilona.

“I’m like, okay, make her feel good and let her be herself, because that’s what’s so good about her. She’s so genuine and I don’t want her to just be a dancer and point her toes and do this. So I’m really trying to make sure that you know she comes out and feels herself,” Alan said. With that in mind, Alan is taking it literally move by move, as he puts it.

“I’m still getting used to what Alona is good at and so you know, in 4 weeks we’re hopefully still at that point and I’m like, oh, I know she can do this move. We’re still learning every move so it’s like, okay, let’s try this. If it doesn’t work, that’s okay, I have a backup plan,” Alan explained and added that Ilona has the mentality of “I’m going to be the best.” Ilona, ​​who helped the United States win its first rugby medal in 100 years, said the same about their training approach.

“Here’s the deal: We learn a step, and then we do that step 200 times. And then we add a step, and then we do that step 200 times. Then we just put the pieces together, and there are so many little solutions. It’s like, ‘Okay, you did that right, but can you add the hand?’ ‘Okay, you did this, the hand, right, but can you add this?’ So it’s kind of like adding these pieces to this puzzle to make the (complete version),” Ilona told Us Weekly. With all that, Alan has all the praise for Ilona.

“I have the best time with Ilona. She’s amazing. Ilona is unlike any partner I’ve had in nine seasons, you know, she’s just so authentically herself. She’s amazing, she’s a star,” said an excited Alan. On the other hand, Ilona is just as excited to work with Alan, because she thought Alan “difficult” about the partners. But at the same time, echoing Alan, Ilona also stated that the first one allows her to express herself.

The rugby player, who is the first of her kind to join the series, joked that Bersten has “guided” her into an environment where she feels “very feminine, womanly” on the dance floor. “I think it will be good for girls to see a muscular, strong woman dancing femininely with a handsome man like Alan here,” Ilona said to People.

But there is another important side to her participation in DWTS. According to Ilona, ​​it is a great confidence booster for “big, muscular women” like her, because it brings out the feminine side in them. However, Ilona herself was not always on the right side of self-confidence when dealing with this reality.

Ilona Maher’s Journey to Dance for Empowerment

The 28-year-old opened up Entertainment weekly about her dreams of winning Dancing with the starsShe believes it can really draw attention to how female athletes are doing well both on and off the field. “I think it will just show what I’ve been trying to say, which is that female athletes are so much more than their sport, so much more than the stereotypes that are imposed on them through sport,” she said during a DWTS press line.

Ilona celebrates the strength and beauty of all body types and adds: “It’s so amazing to show what my body type can do, and how beautiful it can be in all kinds of spaces.” Her journey is all about breaking barriers and proving that women can shine in any spotlight and her goal. To celebrate and normalize diverse body types! Ilona is a huge advocate for body positivity and never shies away from posting videos where she is bullied for her muscular build.

“It’s just important for these girls to see me all the time, to show that being big can be beautiful, and that it doesn’t diminish your femininity in some way. Growing up, I didn’t have any athletes, other than Serena Williams, who looked like me and played sports like me. I want to be someone who’s there (so girls) don’t feel like they have to change,” Ilona proudly told Women’s Health magazine.

Ilona believes her sport has done a lot to push away the not-so-nice comments she’s had to hear. The Vermont native said that before she joined rugby, she was seen as a “big girl.” But when she joined a local rugby club, Ilona was “celebrated” for her body. Just a few months ago, Ilona didn’t hold back from standing up to a social media user for trying to troll her about her Body Mass Index (BMI).

A commenter had written that she had a body mass index (BMI) of 30. For reference, a BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight, according to the Cleveland Clinic. A BMI of 30 and above is obese. On that occasion, Ilona got razor-sharp in her response, writing: “I think you were trying to roast me, but this is a fact. I have a BMI of 30 — well, 29.3 to be exact. I’ve been considered overweight my entire life.” Then she wrote back to the troll: “But alas, I’m going to the Olympics and you’re not!”

So here goes the girl who is super proud of herself, and is once again taking a punt on the track after the Olympic trials. After all, there aren’t many people with her body type who can dance a tango, rumba or cha-cha. So more power to the pioneer!