Ilona Maher shares an adorable moment with dance partner Alan Bersten as they cherish their memories after finishing second in DWTS Finale

Ilona Maher shared an adorable moment with her DWTS partner Alan Bersten as they celebrated their second-place finish in the dance reality series. The show was won by Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson after they received the highest combined votes from judges and viewers.

The 33rd season of Dancing With the Stars commenced on September 1, 2024, and recently concluded on Tuesday, November 26. After the voting concluded, Ilona Maher and Alan Bersten clinched the second place, followed by Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong.

Aa few moments after being awarded second place, Maher shared a special moment alongside her dance partner Bersten via her Instagram story.

She uploaded a video, where she was celebrating the moment with her partner, who picked up and swung her, they adorably jumped and hugged during the win.

Ilona Maher's Instagram story

In the redemption round, Maher and Bersten performed a jive on the song "Shake a Tail Feather" by Ray Charles & The Blues Brothers. In their freestyle round, the partners performed to "Femininomenon" by District 78 feat. Mona Rue.

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Ilona Maher penned a heartfelt note for dance partner Alan Bersten after qualifying for the DWTS finals

Ilona Maher penned an emotional note for Alan Bersten after performing at the semi-final night. They performed the Paso double in the song Unholy by Sam Smith and Kim Petras and also danced a Viennese waltz to "Golden Hour" by JVKE. Following these performances, they advanced to the finals, and the rugby player shared a heartwarming note to her partner on Instagram, saying that she dedicated the semi-final performances to Bersten.

"I wanted to dedicate this dance to the best partner I could have hoped for on this show, Alan. This experience has been one I will remember for the rest of my life with fondness because of what you made it for me. It has not always been easy and I still can’t figure out how to finish my arms but every hour with you in the studio has been a pleasure. Let’s give it our all this week one last time," Maher wrote.

Bersten returned the appreciation as he lauded Illona after her semi-final performance. Speaking to Good Morning America last week, Bersten said that Maher had 'changed his life'.

"Honestly, Ilona has changed my life and she might not do it on purpose but she has an effect on people. She's just so authentic, genuine, and just makes people feel so good about themselves. So I couldn't be happier," Bersten said.

On the sports side of things, Ilona Maher earlier played a crucial role in helping her team win a rugby sevens bronze medal at the Paris Olympics in August by defeating Australia.