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Season 33 of Dancing With The Stars featured a host of sporting personalities, including Ilona Maher and Danny Amendola. Recently, Amendola recalled his first interaction with Maher, hilariously narrating the duo's exchange.
Maher has been a popular rugby player since the Tokyo Olympics. Her fame skyrocketed after the Paris Olympics, where she led Team USA to a historic bronze medal in the rugby sevens event. On the other hand, Amendola led an incredible career as a wide receiver in the NFL, winning two Super Bowls as part of the New England Patriots.
In 2024, both the sporting stars made an appearance on DWTS. Recently, in an episode of the Games with Names podcast, Amendola looked back on his time on the show. Naming Maher as the best friend he made on the show, he heaped praise on the Olympic medalist, saying:
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“Ilona Maher is somebody I really kind of gravitated to. An amazing rugby player, she's out in Europe right now playing rugby. She was a great person to be around. I took her to a couple workouts with me too. She's a beast, she's strong as s**t, she's tough as nails. She's always talking s**t too. I remember it was the first day of Dancing With The Stars, I was going to get like a coffee or something and we had just met briefly.
We were trying to connect a little bit. She came over and just immediately started talking s**t, ‘You can't tackle me, I will mush your face into the ground.’ I'm like listen, ‘I’m not going to let you get close to me.'”
Ilona Maher and Danny Amendola share a hilarious glimpse of themselves dancing together
In season 33 of Dancing With The Stars, Ilona Maher paired with Alan Bersten, while Danny Amendola was partnered with Witney Carson. However, this didn't stop the two sporting superstars from trying their hand at dancing with each other.
In a hilarious video shared by Maher on Instagram, the rugby medalist teamed up with the NFL champion for a quick dance. In the video, Amendola tries to dip Maher, only for her to try to dip him back. The post was captioned:
“When two contact athletes meet.”
In their appearance on Dancing With The Stars, Amendola placed fifth alongside Carson, while Maher finished second with Bersten.
