"Ilona Maher inspired millions of people every single week"- Alan Bersten appeals to fans after becoming eligible for 'major honor' nomination

Ilona Maher's dance partner at DWTS, Alan Bersten, recently made an appeal to fans after becoming eligible for Emmy nominations. The choreographer has qualified for his performances at the dance reality show 'Dancing with the Stars.'

Bersten shared the information on his Instagram profile, persuading his followers to come out and vote in large numbers. The choreographer had teamed up with Maher for the 33rd season of the dance reality show 'Dancing with the Stars,' held last year.

Bersten shared his thoughts on his Instagram story and wrote,

"If you are a TV academy member for the Emmy's, I am eligible to be nominated in Outstanding Choreography For Variety or Reality Programming!! It is truly an honor for me!! It is a dream come true! And I can't express how much it means to me to be a part of such an incredible show, doing what I love!"

Bersten also added that he was proud to have been the dance partner of someone like Ilona Maher last season.

"This past season I was so lucky to be partnered with Ilona, not only was the epitome of what Dancing with the Stars is, but she inspired millions of people every single week. I'm so proud of her and I'm so glad we were able to push norms and do some original things that haven't been done before! Also I really like being lifted now!"

Screengrab of Alan Bersten's Instagram story [Image Source : Alan Bersten's Instagram]

Ilona Maher and Alan Bersten made their way to the grand finale of the 33rd season of Dancing with the Stars. The dancing duo finished as runners-up overall.

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Ilona Maher opens up about her bronze medal experience at the Paris Olympics 2024

Ilona Maher recounts the bronze medal victory at the Paris Olympics [Image Source : Getty]

Ilona Maher shared her thoughts about the bronze medal victory at the Paris Olympics. The 28-year-old rugby player was playing her second Olympics at the quadrennial event held in Paris, after having represented the USA at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

In her conversation with Forbes magazine, which was published in early June 2025, Maher revealed that she couldn't grasp the fact that she was an Olympic medalist for a few moments. In her words,

"Sometimes it still doesn’t feel real. Even though it was bronze to us, it felt like gold (to us), and I think to the world, it felt like gold in many ways. Whenever someone talks about me, they sometimes will call me a gold medalist, and I’m like, you’re wrong, but thank you so much. We have, I think, elevated the sport much more than anything. It’s been a really cool role."

The US women's rugby sevens team had defeated Australia to win the bronze medal. This was their first Olympic medal in the history of the sport, irrespective of gender.

Ilona Maher was last seen at the photo shoot for the swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated magazine. She was one of the models, apart from Lauren Chan, Jordan Chiles, Salma Hayek, and Olivia Dunne, who were chosen for the cover shoot of the swimsuit edition of the magazine this year.