After receiving some not-so-stellar scores during “Halloween Nightmares Night” on Dancing With the Stars, it is safe to say Olympic rugby player Ilona Maher is not on the best terms with judges Bruno Tonioli, Derek Hough, and Carrie Ann Inaba (specifically the latter).
For those who did not tune in yesterday, Oct. 29, Ilona and Alan opened the show with a Tango to “Psycho Killer” by Miley Cyrus, earning them a score of 24 out of 30. Although straight 8’s sounds relatively successful, this was a stark contrast from her fellow DWTS contestants, who earned 9s and 10s all evening.
Carrie Ann was the judge especially eager to hand out 10s, giving every DWTS duo one aside from Ilona and Chandler Kinney. To make matters worse, Chandler and her professional dance partner, Brandon Armstrong, are undoubtedly the best pair on the show this season, making their failure to receive a 10 from Carrie Ann nothing short of shocking.
Naturally, DWTS fans were furious with Carrie Ann and her antics, taking to X to express their anger towards everything that occurred during “Halloween Nightmares Night” on Dancing With the Stars. Spoiler alert: they even accused the longtime DWTS judge of being anti-women:
As if things could not get any worse, Ilona and her professional dance partner (and rumored romantic partner), Alan Bersten, participated in a dance-off against NBA player Dwight Howard and his professional dance partner, Daniella Karagach, later in the evening, where they failed to receive the three extra bonus points.
Performing a Cha Cha to “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker Jr. simultaneously, the judges praised Ilona and Alan for their terrific technique, but they threw a serious curveball when they crowned Dwight and Daniella the winners of the dance-off instead — HUH?
Naturally, DWTS fans were furious (once again), taking to X to express their anger (once again):
Nevertheless, Ilona and Alan managed to survive elimination thanks to the public vote, with The Bachelorette star Jenn Tran and her professional dance partner, Sasha Farber, getting sent home instead.
Despite continuing in the competition, “Halloween Nightmares Night” was a tough one for the Olympic rugby player regardless, causing her supporters to take to X (with a more positive twist this time) to praise all that Ilona has accomplished on the show so far:
After all, she had an extremely successful routine during “Dedications Night,” earning a 32 out of 40 for her Rumba to “My Way” by Yseult. Additionally, she topped the leaderboard during “Disney Night” last week, earning a 25 out of 30 for her Jazz to “Surface Pressure” from Encanto, as well as additional points from the “Team Goofs” group dance (where she served as the team captain) — how impressive is that?
Now that she hit a speed bump during “Halloween Nightmares Night,” will Ilona manage to get out of her slump, surviving yet another week on Dancing With the Stars? To find out for yourself catch, brand-new episodes every Tuesday on ABC or Disney Plus — with the exception of Tuesday, Nov. 5, due to Election Day — with next-day streaming via Hulu as well.
After all, we need to see where her rumored romance with fellow DWTS contestant Danny Amendola goes from here. If the rumors are true, this would be one attractive couple!
