What a ride it has been! After her massive Olympic success, rugby star Ilona Maher has been just as enchanting in the 33rd season of Dancing With The Stars. But there were more similarities! In both these titillating events, Maher reached the podium but just fell short of snagging the top spot. And while her run with Alan Bersten was truly a spectacle to behold, fans can’t help but feel agitated by the results.

Just days earlier, Maher revealed that her participation in the popular dance show was a full-circle moment for her family. With this heartfelt backstory, fans were eager to see Maher turn her DWTS journey into a success story for the ages. However, with those hopes falling short, fans are now speculating about foul play.

Ilona Maher once again falls short of gold

Ilona’s final freestyle performance of the DWTS season was shared on X on November 26 by a fan. The social media post shows Maher and Bersten dancing their heart out as the Olympian shows how she can be the zenith of femininity without a care for what the naysayers have to say about her appearance. “THAT FREESTYLE WAS A FEMININOMENON !!!!!! WOW THIS WAS SUCH A PERFECT WAY TO END HER DWTS JOURNEY !!!! THIS FREESTYLE WAS PURE FEMALE EMPOWERMENT !!!!” the fan couldn’t stop gushing after watching the Quinnipiac University student dish out a thriller to District 78’s Femininomenon. 

However, despite the sensational performance, the team of Maher and Bersten came in second, while The Bachelor star Joey Graziadei picked up the winner’s trophy with his professional dancing partner Jenna Johnson. And this didn’t sit well with the fans. Many opined that Pretty Little Liars star Chandler Kinney deserved the victory, but since she was the last to go out on the dance floor, her fate was already decided.

The winners of the show are declared based on fan votes, and by the time Kinney’s music hit, most of the voting was already done. While Maher doesn’t have the same point to argue about, her fans also seem to think the results should have been something entirely different.

Fans express their dissatisfaction without holding back

One account run by wrestling fans seemed upset that the Olympic medalist once again could sniff the gold but didn’t get to claim it. Their frustration is only amplified by the result of the high-octane boxing match between YouTuber Jake Paul and “Iron” Mike Tyson from days ago, where the boxing icon’s old age got in the way of his 51st victory. “Mike Tyson losing against Jake Paul. Now we got Ilona Maher and Chandler Kinney losing,” wrote the account with a short clip that would resonate with every The Office fan.

Another fan instead thinks Maher got her followers to rally behind her extremely well, but also posited that Kinney was the star who deserved better. “I’m an Ilona Maher fangirl and my husband didn’t watch til today and doesn’t know who chandler kinney is but even he said that everyone’s blind if they didn’t notice that they had the best dances,” the fan grunted. One more fan seemed happy with Ilona’s placing, but once again joined Chandler’s fans to claim it was a robbery in broad daylight. “That’s some b***t,” the fan complained.

All of her life, Maher has had to struggle against body-shaming. Sneering at her physical appearance, trolls have often crossed the line to attack her in nasty ways. Her mom Mieneke has done her best to protect the rugby star, but the harsh words have also gotten under her skin at times. “It’s just a sad statement of society in general,” Mrs. Maher has stated about what her daughter has had to go through. Even Ilona’s Olympic achievements haven’t been able to put a lid on these words. However, some fans were truly admirers of the guts Maher showed at DWTS in the past few weeks. And not being able to witness her glow-up anymore is making some fans feel the heartache. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN IM NOT SEEING @ILONA_MAHERNEXT TUESDAY?” one fan is already losing it.

“Even though you didn’t win your tenure at #DWTS was truly an inspiration. Because of you maybe the starting QB will ask the athletic girl with beautiful broad shoulders on a date,” reads the optimistic comment by another Maher fan. How do you recon Ilona’s participation would change the world in the coming days? Tell us in the comments.