Ilona Maher Praised as ‘Iconic’ for DWTS Nod While Battling Injury: ‘That’s a Warrior’

Fans expressed concern, but noted that the rugby player’s ‘comedic timing has not been damaged.’

Rugby is a contact sport, and injuries are not a matter of if, but when, for the players.

And that time came with a bang for Olympian Ilona Maher, who suffered from what she described as “a lil knock” in her Jan. 18 game against the Leicester Tigers.

Maher, who recently moved to England to play for the Bristol Bears, shared the news on social media that she broke her nose while on the field, prompting fans to say “that’s a warrior right there” for the way she took her lumps and found humor in the painful situation.

The premiership women’s rugby player first shared a photo of herself on the pitch with what looks to be a stopper or gauze in her left nostril. The Vermont native beamed in the snap as she made a thumbs-up sign with her right hand and held a bag of ice in her left.

Blood stains peppered her jersey and there were visible scrapes on the bridge of her nose and chin, but the caption for the photo had a cheery tone, as the Dancing With the Stars alum shared that it was “All good, everyone. Just a lil knock.”

An hour later, Maher shared a video of herself holding the same bag of ice, now melted, to her face as she lip-synced to audio from her DWTS run when, after judge Carrie Ann Inaba asked if she was OK, she responded, “been better, Carrie Ann.”

“Using your own viral audio is so next level iconic 😂😂 you’re amazing,” said one fan in the comments, and others agreed. “Using your own audio is so iconic actually 💪,” wrote another commenter.

Another chimed in to say “The way this audio will be used for years to come if our girl gets hurt 😭🥹.” 

More rushed to the comments to simultaneously sympathize and praise the athlete, writing, “I’m so sorry about your nose. But your comedic timing has not been damaged!”