Ilona Maher steals the spotlight in backless brown dress as she returns to Dancing With The Stars after runner-up finish

American rugby player Ilona Maher graced the sets of Dancing with the Stars Season 34. Maher, who was a contestant in the last edition of the show, shares a close bond with the show as well as several of the dancers in the show.

She is quite close with her former DWTS partner, Alan Bersten, and they are frequently seen sharing gigs on their social media handles. The pair put up a great performance in the last edition of the show, and they also reached the finals of the competition and finished as the runner-up.

Recently, the American rugby player travelled down memory lane as she visited the DWTS show. Maher shared a few pictures from her time on the sets, where she can be seen wearing a brown backless dress. She also posed for a picture with her former DWTS partner, Barsten, who is partnered with actress Elaine Hendrix for this season. She remarked in the caption:

"Back in the Ballroom 🪩"

In another video, Maher can be seen surprising Bersten behind the stages of the event. She sarcastically wrote in the caption:

"Got nervous they’d make me start dancing if I came back @dancingwiththestars"

In her rugby endeavors, Maher recently competed with the US national team at the Rugby World Cup. The US team had a disappointing stint in the event and failed to advance past the group stages of the competition.

Ilona Maher credits rugby for instilling the ethos of body positivity in her

Ilona Maher (Image via: Getty)

Ilona Maher recently credited rugby for instilling the ethos of body positivity in her. Speaking in an interview, the American rugby player stated that the teammates around her instill a lot of confidence in her regarding body positivity.

Additionally, she also shared that the US national rugby team consists of players of several sizes, and thereby, it boosts her confidence in herself to accept her body as it is. She said (via We Need to Talk, 3:54 onwards):

"I think a lot of it goes back to rugby. I think that the women I surround myself with, my teammates makes me feel so confident and so good about myself because the thing about rugby is that we need everybody imaginable out there on the field. We got a 6'2, we got a 4'11, we got body shapes of all sizes, that's what we want in rugby and that's what has made me accept my body and love it so much."

During the conversation, Ilona Maher also remarked that rugby showed her it is alright to be strong and physical as a woman.

Edited by Soumik Bhattacharya