Ilona Maher's DWTS partner Alan Bersten becomes 'The Grinch' for Christmas as he shares his honest response to friends asking him to hang out

Ilona Maher and Alan Bersten were the runners-up on the latest season of Dancing With The Stars, and the duo were a fan-favorite couple in their time on the show. Recently, Bersten gave his followers an inside look into his personality as he hilariously revealed his honest response to friends asking him to hang out.

Maher first rose to fame during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, as she shared sneak-peeks into the life of an Olympic athlete. The rugby star’s popularity skyrocketed after her stint at the Paris Olympics, where she helped Team USA to a historic bronze medal.

Post the 2024 Games, Maher participated on season 33 of Dancing With The Stars, alongside Alan Bersten. The duo quickly formed a close bond, and became a popular pairing amongst fans as they shared glimpses of their time on the show together.

Most recently, Bersten gave his followers a look into his personality with a hilarious skit. Taking to Instagram, the 30-year-old donned the role of ‘The Grinch’, as he lip synced to audio from the movie which said,

“Even if I wanted to go, my schedule would never allow it. Four O'clock - wallow in self-pity, four-thirty, stare into the abyss, 5 o'clock - solve world hunger, tell nobody, five-thirty - jazzercise, six-thirty, dinner with me - I can't cancel that again, seven o'clock, wrestle with my self-loathing. I'm booked! Of course, if I bump the loathing to nine, I could still be done in time to lay in bed, stare at the ceiling and slip slowly into madness But what would I wear?!”.

Bersten captioned the video,

“Every time my friends ask me to hang out.”

Ilona Maher and Alan Bersten on their bond with each other

Ilona Maher and Alan Bersten became close friends in their time on season 33 of Dancing With The Stars. The duo one revealed the interesting reason behind their bond, with Maher telling People Magazine,

"We're both annoying. We both don't shut up. We're similar. And also, having somebody who doesn't tell you to ever tone yourself down. If anything, Alan tells me to be funny.”

Agreeing with the rugby star, Bersten pinned down the duo’s ‘stupidity’ as the reason they were close friends, saying,

"Our stupidity. Have you seen Dumb And Dumber?"

Ilona Maher and Alan Bersten had a solid outing on Dancing With The Stars. While the couple started out slow, they eventually became one of the best pairs on the show, qualifying for the finals. In the finals, they placed second, scoring 27 points out of a possible 30 for their Jive, while achieving a season best score of 30 on their freestyle to Chappell Roane’s Femininomenon.