Ilona Maher will be dominating it on the rugby field for Team USA at one moment, and then the next, she’s spinning around on the dance floor on Dancing With the Stars.
And while the 28-year-old Olympics medalist is making the most of every opportunity coming her way, there’s a much deeper meaning behind what she chooses to take on. As an outspoken advocate for women, Maher is out to prove that “you’re so much more than the stereotypes that sometimes people put you in.”
She uses her platform on social media to show that women of all shapes and sizes can still feel confident in anything they do. It’s also why she created her slogan, #beastbeautybrains, and decided to go on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars (with her pro partner Alan Bersten) following the Paris Olympics.
“I believe I can be a beast on the field, but I also feel so beautiful when I’m out there, like I wear lipstick and I feel really pretty and I love to get dressed up and show my feminine and beauty while I wear a dress and show off my big shoulders and muscles,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter. “And then the brains are just like, I love to be smart.”
Below, Maher gets candid about being a role model for young girls online, her Dancing With the Stars experience, winning her first Olympic medal at the Paris Games and where she would like to be in five years (maybe the L.A. Olympics?).
Going back to the Paris Olympics over the summer, do you have a favorite memory from that experience?
I mean, winning a medal had to be really up there [Laughs]. That was pretty nice. I think one of my memories is I remember I got tackled right before that last play of our bronze medal match and I see my teammate Spiff [Alex Sedrick] running down the field and I looked at the clock and I was like holy shit, time is out right now. Then I chased her and I get to her and I was like… the math didn’t compute in my head that we needed to make the conversion with it. And I was the one that handed her the ball with four seconds left for her to kick and she’s not a kicker and for her to kick it, I was like, “I’ll love you for the rest of my life, Spiff.” And then I think my favorite moment was I got to do that with my team and we got to do something so special for our country and for our program.
When did you know you wanted to be a professional rugby player with the goal of going to the Olympics?
A lot of girls — I think maybe it’s getting better — never really dreamed of being a professional athlete if you’re being realistic, right? Because it’s not like you can just go to the NFL and make millions of dollars or dream of being in the NBA and be set for life. I felt like I almost didn’t dream of being an athlete because that’s just not something that will actually fund me. I need to be realistic. So I went to nursing school. I did nursing and rugby and my focus was more on nursing. And then it wasn’t until senior year when everyone was telling me I could play for the Eagles, play for the USA team, but I think it was going into senior year where I just made a decision, you know, nursing will always be there. Let me try this one percent chance to go play for the Olympics.
How has practicing for Dancing With the Stars been different from rugby training?
It’s not hard for me physically, it’s hard for me mentally. Like figuring out this and your hand, I need your hand to be this and then it’s pointed but make it grow and do all this stuff. So it’s hard because I just don’t think in that way. Everything is like a play to me instead of letting it all kind of flow together. I haven’t really figured that out yet. It’s been tough. I think also not letting myself easily pick up at it ‘cause I’m afraid to be embarrassed or to make a fool out of myself.
What do you make of that viral clip from DWTS, where you say, “I’ve been better Carrie Ann” after that difficult dance? I feel like so many people enjoyed seeing someone so relatable on their screen, expressing their feelings.
Everyone was like, “You’re so brave. Oh my gosh, Ilona’s showing us we can be vulnerable,” and I was like, that just felt so right in the moment. It wasn’t anything intentional or to me, it wasn’t brave. It was just me being me, like in that moment, did not feel good. I feel like I really messed up. … To me, it was just a very normal human experience I had. I just happened to have it on national television [Laughs].
What’s been your favorite moment about DWTS so far?
It’s interesting that this is one of my favorite moments, but when we did that Dirty Dancing lift, when he [Bersten] lifted me and I think everyone’s like, “That’s so cool. Alan lifted Ilona.” And then when I lifted him, I remember the crowd was so loud that I actually kind of got a little hectic with it because they were so excited to see that. And I really like that because I think it’s so cool that we’re creating dances where though I’m very strong and big, he still makes me feel very feminine.
As an advocate for all women and showing them they can do anything they put their mind to, what do you hope young girls take away from you?
I’m always just trying to stress that you’re so much more than the stereotypes that sometimes people put you in. I’ve always just found it as an athlete, as a female athlete, whatever sport I have played or whatnot… I was always told you gotta be this and this and this and I was like, well, I don’t feel that way or I’m not that way, but I still love this sport. I love who I am. I have the title, “Beast Beauty Brains” because I believe I can be a beast on the field, but I also feel so beautiful when I’m out there, like I wear lipstick and I feel really pretty and I love to get dressed up and show my feminine and beauty while I wear a dress and show off my big shoulders and muscles. And then the brains are just like, I love to be smart. I love to have knowledge and to know and to share with others. So I think that people will try to define you constantly or try to stereotype you constantly, but it’s such a small picture they paint and you’re so much bigger than that.
Now you probably don’t have many of these at the moment, but if you have a day off from work, what does the perfect free day look like for you?
I’m sleeping in, but I don’t like to sleep in too late. Maybe I’ll set my alarm for nine. And then I will go on a walk and get coffee and I will walk probably without any music or maybe I’ll listen to something, but I just like to walk and I like to walk through a rich neighborhood and check out houses. I will then have maybe a breakfast bagel or breakfast of some kind. I will spend the day just hanging out, not having to do anything. I always feel like I have to do something, like I gotta go to the gym, I gotta go do this. I am now trying to learn to give myself that time to not do anything. It’s very hard for me. I’m maybe laying out in the sun with a drink, with a margarita, with my sisters. And then after we lay in the sun, we’re gonna get all dressed up and put on makeup and we’re gonna go out to the nice dinner and we’re gonna try everything and we’re gonna take little bites of everything. Just sit there for hours, then we’ll come back, maybe have some wine, hang out and then sleepy time.
If you could go back and talk to little Ilona seeing where you are today, what would you tell her?
I’d literally tell her nothing. I would go back and I would just be some creepy lady on the sidewalk and I’d be like, “Good job, honey.” And she’d be like, “Mom, who is that?” I wouldn’t say a gosh darn thing. Maybe in a passing comment, I’d be like, “You’re so pretty,” and then I’d walk away or something. I just think everything that she did got me here, so why would I butterfly-effect it and say something that could have messed it up because she did that all on her own.
Looking ahead, where do you see yourself in 5 years? Are you aiming for the L.A. Olympics in 2028?
Definitely aiming for the L.A. Olympics. I’d love to stay in the rugby realm a little more, but also I’m doing this stuff like Dancing With the Stars and whatnot to cement myself in this world of media, sports, whatever it is because I would like to be in it for longer. And I think I have to make it bigger than just rugby because that’s so small. But I see myself staying here, continuing to be maybe a person out there, showing people what you can do and who you can be, and I do see a lot of growth still to happen for me and a lot more to come. It scares me in a way, but I’m also very excited for what can happen.
If you could describe what makes Ilona Maher, Ilona Maher, what would you say?
I think it’s people around me. I think it’s my best friend, it’s my sisters, it’s my family, my teammates who have helped to shape me into who I am today and made it OK for me to be who I am. Sometimes we just need that reassurance that it’s OK to be who we are.
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