“No Resolutions Here!”: Ilona Maher’s Realistic Take on New Year’s Goals

The Olympic medalist shares what's ahead for 2025.

Dancing with the Stars silver medalist Ilona Maher, who finished in second place with pro Alan Bersten, will be kicking off the new year in the U.K. when the Bristol Bears, her new rugby team, takes to the field on Jan. 5 with Maher making her debut on the pitch for Premiership Women’s Rugby.

It’s long been a dream of Maher’s to join the PWR, so she can happily cross that off her bucket list for 2025. What else is she hoping to achieve in the year ahead?

“I don’t actually make New Year’s resolutions,” Maher exclusively told Parade. “I just say, ‘This is something I might want to try to do in the New Year.’ I’ve never had goals like 'lose 30 pounds' or 'I’m going to do this here.' My resolutions have been saying yes to more things that I truly want, and also saying no to things that I’m kind of iffy about. If it’s not an emphatic yes, it’s a no.”

“I’ve always been somebody who’s so excited for the future,” she says. “Even as a little kid, I’d get so excited for what’s happening next and not actually enjoy where I was at. So, stay present." More broadly, she tells herself, "Whatever happens, happens."

Dating is also on the bronze Olympic medalist’s mind for 2025. She admitted on DWTS that she was hoping for someone special to slide into her DMs, but the truth of the matter is that she has no time for romance.

“I think that if somebody comes along who will enhance my life, I will take that opportunity, but right now I’m just focusing on building my brand and seeing what I can do for myself, for my friends and my family,” Maher says.

Whether she finds romance or not, she is looking to establish a better work-life balance, which means finding time to kick back and relax.

“In those moments when I can take rest, [I want to] take the rest and do what I need for my own mind, body and soul,” she says. “It’s been very busy after this Olympics. I’ve been living out of a suitcase. I haven’t actually been really home at all.”

Her move to England for the next few months continues her on that path, and Maher is hoping that when her 2.5-month contract with the Bristol Bears ends, she will be able to join the DWTS tour, which runs through April 6.

“I would love to do more, but it was important for me to go back to my passion of rugby,” Maher says. “With the World Cup coming up next year, I wanted to prepare myself for that. And though I would love to have been [on tour] spending every day with Alan again, I need to also focus on what really brings me joy and what I think will move me forward and move the sport forward.”

In addition to hoping to compete in the World Cup, Maher is also looking forward to 2028 and the possibility of representing the United States in the Olympics in Los Angeles that year.

“I think playing in a home Olympics would be something so spectacular,” she says. “That’s what everyone hopes to do, but not many people can do that. So, I will try to make that team. I think it’s going to take a lot of grit and work, but I am prepared to put that in.”