Olympian Ilona Maher Reveals Why She Said Yes to ‘Dancing With the Stars’

The professional rugby player and SI Swimsuit digital cover model shared her motivations on Instagram.

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

As she gears up to make her debut on Dancing With the Stars next Tuesday, Sept. 17, rugby player and SI Swimsuit digital cover model Ilona Maher is opening up on what led her to say “yes” to the opportunity.

The 28-year-old Vermont native posted an Instagram reel over the weekend in which she shared her reasonings for participating in the reality TV show. In fact, Maher admitted that when she first got the call for the show, she wanted to say “no.”

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A post shared by Ilona Maher (@ilonamaher)

“My comfort zone is the rugby pitch,” she explained. “ ... Yet it felt hypocritical of me to not want to try something new that could show me what my body could do in a different way. Because I’m always telling you guys to try rugby or try a sport that’ll make you see what your body is capable of and that it’s not just something to be looked at and objectified.”

On Season 33 of DWTS, Maher will be paired up with professional ballroom and Latin dancer Alan Bersten. Since the cast was announced on Good Morning America last week, the pair have been sharing plenty of social media content of their rehearsals leading up to next week’s premiere.

“I’m doing this for a couple reasons,” Maher continued. “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.”