Ilona Maher Channels Memorable DWTS Moment As She Reveals Injury

Ilona Maher channeled her “Dancing with the Stars” days after suffering an injury while playing professional rugby.

In January 2025, the Olympic bronze medalist, who signed a three-month contract to play for the Bristol Bears in the Premiership Women’s Rugby League in England, broke her nose during her first home game.

But the quick-witted athlete shared the news of her injury with a callback to her time on the ABC celebrity ballroom competition last fall, and fans thought it was pretty priceless.

Ilona Maher Admitted She’s ‘Been Better, Carrie Ann’

Maher was injured during a January 18 game against the Leicester Tigers. She posted a photo to Instagram that showed her bloodied nose as she stood on the rugby field holding an ice pack in one hand and giving fans a thumbs-up with the other. “All good, everyone. Just a lil knock,” the 28-year-old athlete captioned the post.

She gave an update with a second post she captioned, “When people keep asking me if I’m okay but I just broke my nose.”

In a video clip, she was seen icing her nose, and throwback audio of DWTS judge Carrie Ann Inaba played. “Are you okay?” Inaba asked. “Are you okay?”

“Been better Carrie Ann,” Maher lip-synched.

The audio clip was from an October 2024 episode of “Dancing With the Stars,” in which Maher was criticized by the judges after a difficult jive performance with pro partner Alan Bersten. At the time, Bruno Tonioli told Maher the dance “went wrong so many times.”

Maher began to get emotional, prompting Inaba to ask if she was okay.

“Uh, been better, Carrie Ann,” a tearful Maher responded.

“No sir, I am truly not okay,” Maher confirmed in her January 2025 video.

Inaba commented on the video, writing, “Are you okay? Are you okay? 💃🏻😮😉🤗 seriously, i hope you’re okay. They can’t mess with our esteemed #dwts almuni…. 🪩.”

Other fans praised Maher for keeping her sense of humor following the rigby mishap.

Ilona Maher Will Dance on the DWTS Live Tour This Spring

Maher previously told Parade that despite the physical demands of DWTS, her training for the show made her “feel weaker” because she used different muscles than when she plays rugby. “It was tough for me to be in this environment where I was using my body a different way, where I wasn’t strength training or running,” she explained.

Maher’s impressive run on “Dancing With the Stars” left her with no injuries, save for some  “gnarly blisters,” she told Heavy/EntertainmentNOW in an interview in December. At the time, she also shared that she was looking forward to fitting the “DWTS Live Tour” into her schedule amid her European rugby commitment.

With her Bristol Bears contract ending in early spring, Maher is set to appear on the final two “Dancing With the Stars” tour dates on April 5 and 6 at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, according to the DWTS Tour website.