Did Ilona Maher Just Hint That She's The Next Bachelorette?

If you tuned into the Paris Olympics this past summer, it would’ve been hard to miss Ilona Maher, a star player on the US Womens’ Rugby team. Ilona has since become extremely well known for her hilarious and inspiring online presence, where she posts comedic videos and shares messages of empowerment often geared at young women.

Since the 2024 Olympics, Ilona has branched out into reality TV, where she’s currently a contestant on Dancing With The Stars. Now, it seems that new rumors are swirling that Ilona could be eyeing an entirely different reality TV experience — that of being the next Bachelorette.

Ilona’s Dancing With The Stars Partner Teased Her About The Bachelorette

In an interview with Good Morning America, Ilona was asked if she could see herself participating on a show like The Bachelorette. While at first Ilona seemed enthusiastic about the suggestion, she quickly went on to add “I don’t know if I could do it.”

With Ilona was her dance partner from Dancing With The Stars, Alan Bersten, who encouraged her to consider the opportunity. “I think you could do it,” he said. “I think dating 30 men would be hard, but I think you could do it,” he added. Given her partner’s energetic reaction, Ilona rethought her answer, joking with Alan and the interviewer:

Though Ilona largely seemed to be joking about the hypothetical situation, she did go on to share with Good Morning America that there were certain qualities she was looking for in a potential partner. Among them, she noted it would be nice to find someone who was truly proud of her many accomplishments, who understood her sense of humor, and, perhaps most importantly of all, was “ready to eat” like she always was.

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Upon hearing this list of traits, Alan once again chimed in, teasing her that she’d just described “a lot of the things about [him.]” In response, Ilona jokingly brushed him off. “Please stop talking,” she teased. For now, at least, Ilona is still tied up with her training for Dancing With The Stars, as she and Alan are one of the few remaining dance duos for Season 33. Even if she were to go on to participate in something like The Bachelorette, she first has to see through the rest of the ballroom competition.

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Fans Of Ilona’s Are Manifesting Her Appearance On The Bachelorette

While Ilona has said that she would be interested in being the next Bachelorette, there has been no official word whether the Olympian is actually in consideration for the reality TV show. Some fans of Ilona’s have even taken to social media to clear up the rumors that have been making their way across the internet. One TikTok video pointed out that Ilona’s words don’t actually make for an official announcement:

“I’m not saying that she hasn’t said yes,” said the poster, “I’m just saying the show hasn’t necessarily offered anything to her that we know of.” That said, the creator behind the video went on to say that she was “all for” Ilona’s words coming true and having her officially be announced as the love interest of the franchise.

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In the comments of the video, fans showed their support for the idea, similarly willing what was just a passing statement of Ilona’s to turn into reality. “I have never, ever watched The Bachelorette. But I would watch it for this,” said one user. “I’ve been saying this since the Olympics! Making Ilona the Bachelorette would be the best season ever,” wrote another.

Some fans noted that the next Bachelor or Bachelorette was typically chosen from a contestant of a previous season, but that didn’t keep some of them from dreaming. Others noted that Ilona was likely to return to rugby before going on to another reality TV show appearance. One fan even suggested an entirely different entertainment path that they thought would suit Ilona:

Given Ilona’s athletic background and her success so far in the dance competition, it makes sense that she would perform similarly well on a reality TV show that is based around a competition or some form of physical challenge. For the time being, though Ilona hasn’t announced her future plans after Dancing With The Stars, it seems that her fans have no shortage of ideas for what they’d like to see the star player go on to do next.

Moving forward, Alan and Ilona will appear on next week’s episode of Dancing With The Stars on Tuesday, November 12th. This week on the show will be a major milestone, as it marks the series’ 500th episode, and in honor of the big event, the dancers will face an exceptionally hard challenge.

Called the “Instant Dance Challenge,” the dance pairs will be given just five minutes to choreograph their dance sequence before performing it on the ballroom floor in front of a live audience. For Ilona, who has openly spoken about how hard it’s been to manage her nerves before taking the stage, no doubt this spin on the usual competition will come as extra challenging. That said, she continues to show growth each week, and with the support of her partner Alan, the hope is that she’ll be able to push through and pull off a routine like never before.

Dancing with the Stars is a popular dancing competition reality TV show airing on ABC and Disney+. The series features various celebrities who pair with professional dancers to compete in front of a panel of judges. The US version of the UK TV show Strictly Come Dancing premiered in 2005 and was originally hosted by Tom Bergeron for its first 28 seasons.

Release Date

June 1, 2005

Main Genre

Reality

Cast

Carrie Ann Inaba , Bruno Tonioli , Len Goodman , Tom Bergeron , Cheryl Burke , Tony Dovolani , Derek Hough , Mark Ballas , Karina Smirnoff , Maksim Chmerkovskiy , Kym Johnson , Sasha Farber , Val Chmerkovskiy , Emma Slater , Sharna Burgess

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