Ilona Maher Practices Dance Moves in Bright Blue Two-Piece Poolside

The ‘Dancing With the Stars’ contestant showed off her technique while clad in a tiny bikini.

Ilona Maher was photographed by Ben Watts in Bellport, New York. / Ben Watts/Sports Illustrated

Dancing With the Stars contestant Ilona Maher can’t help but get her groove on, whether she’s in the ballroom or not. The Olympic rugby athlete showed off her moves in a funny Instagram reel on Oct. 16, in which she danced poolside in a bright blue string bikini while an off-camera voice-over narrated her moves, hooted and hollered.

Maher, with her brunette locks in a bun atop her head and sunglasses perched on her face, spun around next to the pool as she practiced her dancing. “When you’re so committed to your new craft,” was written atop the video.

“@alanbersten watching this, ‘that’s not even the right way to turn,’” SI Swimsuit’s September digital issue cover model quipped in her caption, calling out her professional ballroom and Latin dance partner, Alan Bersten.

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“But the effort is there, and that’s all that matters,” Bersten replied in the comments section.

“God if I had a strong body like that, I would walk around in a bikini ALL THE TIME! 👏,” another one of Maher’s 4 million followers noted.

“This rivals Baby’s training montage from ‘Dirty Dancing,’” someone else wrote. “Nobody puts Ilona in the corner. 🙌🏼.”

“You have grown more refined and agile since you’ve became a dancer...it will make you a better athlete for sure ❤️🔥🙌😄,” an additional user encouraged.

“You are OWNING your power and sensuality and we are all here for it!!!” someone else cheered. “Go on with yo sexy self! 👏👏👏👏 you are a role model for all women everywhere 🙌❤️.”

“I hope with my whole heart that you continue dancing after this ❤️💃,” one fan added.

Maher is currently a contestant on Season 33 of Dancing With the Stars, and has been a fan favorite from the very start. Prior to the season’s premiere on Sept. 17, the 28-year-old Vermont native shared with her community why she chose to participate in the reality show in the first place.

“I’m doing this for a couple reasons,” Maher stated on Instagram. “I’m doing it first, hopefully I’ll learn how to dance and can pull that out at weddings. Second, so many people feel like they have the right to comment on my body, to comment on how they perceive me and on my muscular build and who I am. So this is kind of me taking back the narrative and showing you all through dance, I guess, who I am and how I want to be portrayed.”