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Ilona Maher Has the Realest Response to Potentially Starring on ‘The Bachelorette’

Could the Olympic athlete and ‘Dancing With the Stars’ contestant be headed for the reality dating show?

Cara O’Bleness

Ilona Maher
Ilona Maher / Christopher Willard/Getty Images

Olympic athlete Ilona Maher is currently competing on Season 33 of Dancing With the Stars, but could a starring role on The Bachelorette possibly be in her future?

The 28-year-old Vermont native recently opened up to Good Morning America on the matter, and though excited at the prospect of choosing from upwards of 25 potential suitors, Maher replied, “I don’t know if I could do it,” adding that it might be “too much.”

Meanwhile, Maher’s dance partner, professional ballroom dancer Alan Bersten chimed in that while “dating 30 men might be hard,” he has full confidence that SI Swimsuit’s September digital issue cover model could be up to the task. “I will take that on... I will do that for America,” Maher further quipped. “I will date 30 men for America if that’s what you really want to see.”

Later on in the interview, Maher listed the qualities she is looking for in a potential suitor. Someone who is “very proud” of her, is kind, who understands Maher’s humor and who is “ready to eat” is the Olympic bronze medalist’s ideal partner.

“You just described a lot of things about me,” Bersten pointed out, which elicited a playful demand from Maher to “Please stop talking.”

Fans quickly chimed into the comments section regarding the exchange, as plenty of viewers are shipping a potential Maher-Bersten romantic relationship.

“Alan is like ummm hi. Hello. I’m here 🫠,” one person noted.

“Alan just said what all of us were thinking 😂,” someone else added.

“When Ilona and Alan get married I hope their wedding cake topper is ilona with alan on her shoulder,” another user joked.

“ALAN IS RIGHT THERE GIRL AND HE EVEN KNOWS HE HAS THOSE QUALITIES,” an additional fan stated.

Fellow Dancing With the Stars contestant and star of Season 28 of The Bachelor Joey Graziadei also piped in, advocating for Maher to appear on the ABC reality show. “@bacheloretteabc let’s make this happen!!!” he wrote.

While we await Maher’s future when it comes to The Bachelorette, we can’t wait to see her and Bersten perform on DWTS on Tuesday, Nov. 12. The series will celebrate its 500th episode, and will include an “Instant Dance Challenge” for the remaining contestants, who will have five minutes to choreograph a dance before performing it live.

Additionally, each couple will perform a dance inspired by a memorable performance from a prior season. Maher and Bersten are slated to hit the floor to “Chuck Berry” by Pharrell Williams, in which they will perform a quickstep inspired by Jordan Fisher and Lindsay Arnold’s 2017 performance.

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Cara O’Bleness
CARA O’BLENESS

Cara O’Bleness is a writer and editor on the Lifestyle and Trending News team for SI Swimsuit. Prior to joining SI Swimsuit in 2022, she worked as a writer and editor across a number of content verticals, including food, lifestyle, health and wellness, and small business and entrepreneurship. In her free time, O’Bleness loves reading, spending time with her family and making her way through Michigan’s many microbreweries. She is a graduate of Michigan State University’s School of Journalism.

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