Ilona Maher Says Dancing with DWTS Partner Alan Bersten 'Makes Me Feel Very Feminine': 'Good for Girls to See' (Exclusive)

Opening of Ilona Maher Dancing with the stars routine aptly set the stage for her upcoming season.

At the series’ 33rd season premiere on Tuesday, Sept. 17, the Olympic bronze medalist exclusively told PEOPLE that her partner Alan Bersten helps her show the public her feminine side.

The rugby player – who is the first of her kind to compete in the series – explained that Bersten, 30, “guided her” and created an environment where she felt “very feminine, feminine” on the ballroom floor.

“I think it will be good for the girls to see a muscular, strong woman out there, like femininity dancing with a beautiful man like Alan here,” she noted.

“So I think it will show a lot,” said the 28-year-old athlete. “I think the girls will really like to see that.”

She also noted that although she is a professional athlete, the approach to this competition is “difficult” because she does not know what her “body can do in dance”, but she is confident that she “can do something good”.

Olympic star Ilona Maher wears lipstick on the rugby pitch to break stereotypes that it’s a ‘man’s sport’ (Exclusive)

Ilona Maher and Alan Bersten at the “Dancing with the Stars” Season 33 Premiere on September 17, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.

Disney/Eric McCandless

Before the premiere, Maher told Bersten she wanted to come Dancing with the stars to be a role model for young girls.

“I’m a very large, muscular woman, but I also feel so beautiful and feminine,” she said. “I mean, you know, I grew up not very comfortable, but now I want to make it easier for young girls to love your body.”

During the premiere, the couple performed the Cha Cha to Shania Twain’s “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!”

“It was very fair,” judge Bruno Tonioli told her, “but I’m telling you, you got more than that. You’re great, you’re beautiful, let’s all hang out!”

The duo scored 18 out of 30 for their first performance.

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Ilona Maher at the American House in Paris 2024 on July 31, 2024 in Paris, France. (.

Joe Scarnici/Getty

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In front of her DWTS debut and after Team USA took home the bronze, Maher was photographed for SI Swimsuit cover. Maher said the moment was significant for her, noting that she “always gets called manly.”

“But I never felt that way,” she explained SI. “But I don’t think you’re going to bully a girl who could probably beat you up in a rage. I like that [rugby] he showed me what I could do. It showed me how capable my body is and that it’s not just a tool to be looked at and objectified.”

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Dancing with the stars airs Tuesdays at 8:00 PM ET on ABC and Disney+, and the episode is available to watch the next day on Hulu.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education