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  • 2 days ago
Ilona Maher and partner Alan Bersten chat with THR at the 'Dancing With the Stars' premiere and dish on creating their viral TikToks for the show. Plus, Ilona gives thanks to her supporters on this journey saying, "having them is a blessing."
Transcript
00:00You guys did amazing tonight. How did it feel stepping on the ballroom dance floor right now?
00:04Honestly, more fun than I thought it was, and I think afterwards I was like,
00:07all right, let's run it back. Let's get it one more time.
00:09Great warm up. We are ready now.
00:11Can we just one more time? Thank you.
00:13And you have a lot of people from the Olympics rooting for you,
00:16really around the world on TikTok and everyone.
00:19Does that add more pressure to you when you hit the dance floor?
00:22No, because I love it, and they're the reason I'm here.
00:26So I know they would literally love if I just stood there and did like this or something.
00:30They'd vote for me, you know, so I think I just, having them is a blessing,
00:34and I think it's really just going out there and doing it for them.
00:37And you received such praise from Carrie Ann,
00:40who some people would say is probably one of the toughest judges to, like, please.
00:44How did that feel for you?
00:45I honestly can't remember a lot of it.
00:48We blacked out as we were standing there.
00:49We blacked out because I was like, that was a good job.
00:52But I do remember good praise,
00:55and I think what maybe can set me apart is how I perform and, like, show my personality.
01:00So I hope I can show that better and then also dance better.
01:03This show is about growing and becoming a great dancer.
01:06I don't want to start too good.
01:07If we started up there, where would we go?
01:09About boring.
01:10Boring.
01:11Only get better from here.
01:12We're working our way out.
01:13Yes.
01:13Nice and sunny.
01:14Yes, we have a plan.
01:16And speaking of getting better, so this is week one in the books.
01:19What are we going to improve on for week two?
01:21Everything.
01:22Everything.
01:25Hips, toes, hands.
01:26All the...
01:27No, honestly, I think now that you know what it feels like to be on that stage,
01:30it's a completely different feeling, you know?
01:33Yeah, I think we're just going to actually dance again because I know the steps.
01:36I just get, like, a little, like, caught up in it,
01:39but I know the steps we've done it so many times.
01:40So I think just, like, trusting it and then dancing it, actually.
01:44Because I do think I can dance.
01:45I just feel caught up sometimes.
01:46And I would say you're, like, the queen of TikTok right now.
01:50Have you been teaching some of the older contestants, like, what to do on TikTok?
01:54She's been teaching me.
01:55I'm not teaching it, but, like, whenever I can, I love to get more people on my TikToks.
01:59And I made a really good one with Danny Amendola.
02:01I have more ideas for other people.
02:02And I think we all can use it as a time to build our brands and get our names out there.
02:06Again, it's a great show, even to boost the show.
02:08So I think it's just fun.
02:10And Alex is a good partner.
02:11He encourages me to do it.
02:12So we're creating magic.
02:14Maybe not on the dance floor yet.
02:16Not yet.
02:16But on the phone.
02:18Check out the TikTok if you want to see magic.
02:19Check out the TikTok if you want to see the real magic.
02:22Amazing.
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