Olympian Ilona Maher has thanked her fans for their support and promised she will keep working on her dancing skills after she broke down in tears on Dancing With the Stars.
This year, celebrities competing for the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy include Family Matters actor Reginald VelJohnson competing with pro Emma Slater; Real Housewives of Atlanta star Phaedra Parks partnered with Val Chmerkovskiy; Maher competing with Alan Bersten; and many more.
The 28-year-old rugby player’s eyes filled with tears on Tuesday after she made blunders during her jive dance to Quiet Riot’s song “Cum On Feel the Noize,” during Hair Metal night.
Judge Carrie Ann Inaba said that Maher went off-tempo during the routine and added that it is hard to get back on track after that. The judges were supportive of Maher, despite taking points away from her score, even praising her for being “emotional.”
Maher has since taken to social media to share her thoughts about her performance. Newsweek emailed a spokesperson for Maher for comment on Wednesday outside of normal business hours.
Love you all. I’m okay. Dancing is tough but I’ll keep working.
— Ilona Maher (@ilona_maher) October 9, 2024
“Love you all. I’m OK. Dancing is tough but I’ll keep working,” she posted on X, formerly Twitter.
The Olympian also addressed her performance shortly after she walked off the dance floor. Still wearing the costume from her performance, Maher uploaded a video to TikTok alongside Bersten on Tuesday night.
“Hello everyone, thank you for your support tonight. That was tough for me but I have a great partner and we have next week—they spooked us, they spooked us a little bit but we have next week to improve. So thank you for all of your support; please keep voting. I’ll get better I swear,” Maher said.
After her performance, she was also critiqued by the judges Bruno Tonioli and Derek Hough, who shared the same thoughts as Inaba.
“I love wild and wonderful, and I love to embrace it, but I’m sorry, my darling, you went wrong so many times,” Tonioli said.
“I appreciate that, but this is a dance competition very well. Everyone has to be treated equally, and if you make mistakes, you have points deducted. It takes nothing away from what you did. The attitude was perfect.”
While Maher nodded along to the critique, tears started to well up, and she said she has “been better.”
Inaba added: “I saw you get a little teared up. And I just want to say, like, as a woman, I like that because you’re so emotional. You’re so invested. That’s why everybody’s rooting for you. That’s why we love watching you.”
Among the first people eliminated this season were Beverly Hills, 90210 actor Tori Spelling with her partner Pasha Pashkov; and convicted con artist Anna Delvey and dancing pro Ezra Sosa.
ABC broadcasts the episodes every Tuesday, but the show can still be watched via streaming services for those without cable access. New episodes air on TV and Disney + simultaneously, and episodes can be viewed the day after they have aired on Hulu.
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