Maura Higgins headed to Dancing With The Stars in another skintight sports look on Friday, after admitting she feels ‘pressure’ to succeed on the show.
The former Love Island star, 35, is paired up with her pal and Shirley Ballas‘ professional dancer son Mark, in a move that has reportedly sparked a ‘fix row’ with her unimpressed co-stars.
Maura made her way to training in a grey £78 Alo Yoga sports bra and matching £128 leggings, with just days to go until she makes her dancing debut during the launch show on Tuesday, September 15.
The Traitors star has brushed off the drama surrounding her involvement in the show, and recently said she wants to deliver a ‘really good performance.’
She said: ‘There’s definitely pressure. You want to give the audience a really good performance.
‘But I mean, everyone can do their best, and I’m definitely going to do mine. I am giving it my all. I’ve never danced in my life. So it’s very, very new for me. But I just want to enjoy it.’
Maura Higgins headed to Dancing With The Stars in another skintight sports look on Friday, after admitting she feels ‘pressure’ to succeed on the show
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Maura added: ‘It’s very early days, but my God, my body has taken a shock.
‘I was expecting it to be hard, but holy God. It’s a serious battering; the blisters are something else. But I’m just loving it. I’m honestly loving it so far.’
Maura’s appearance on the show has already ruffled some feathers before the competition has even started.
After her pairing with Mark was revealed and the star was seen rubbing shoulders with judge Bruno Tonioli on a night out, her co-stars are allegedly not best pleased.
A source revealed: ‘Maura’s been rubbing everyone up the wrong way, even before their first spray tans have dried.
‘She was desperate to be partnered with Mark, who’s hugely popular, and was dead against Gleb, who’s now out of a job. It’s as if what Maura says goes.’
They told The Sun: ‘She’s even made sure to get close to judge Bruno Tonioli and wasted no time posing arm-in-arm with him after a night out.
‘It’s not gone unnoticed within the cast that she’s being favoured. It’s as if she’s being set up to win.’ The Daily Mail contacted Maura’s representatives for comment at the time.
The former Love Island star wore a £208 two-piece from Alo Yoga as she arrived for training, ahead of her debut in the launch show on Tuesday
Amid the drama, Maura is still set for a six-figure payday from her stint on the show.
Maura will earn £93k even if she’s kicked out in the first two weeks, which increases by an additional £7k per week for the third and fourth weeks.
If she makes it to week five, there’s another £11k on the table and an additional £20k for week six. Weeks eight and nine, earn celebrities an extra £22k a week.
Meanwhile, the reality star isn’t the only contestant to cause drama with her signing for the 35th season of the show.
Former backing dancer and Step Up star Jenna Dewan has faced fierce backlash and accusations of having an ‘unfair’ advantage on the show.
The Daily Mail has learned that whispers are also circulating behind the scenes about the season’s overall casting, which includes Save the Last Dance star Julia Stiles, The Bachelor‘s Tyler Cameron, who competed in 2022’s The Real Dirty Dancing, and Harry Shum Jr, who starred on Glee and previously toured as a dancer.
‘The cast is definitely whispering about how unfair some of the casting is, especially with Jenna being a former dancer and others having dance experience,’ a source told the Daily Mail.
In the early 2000s, Dewan was a backup dancer and toured for some of the biggest artists in the world, including Janet Jackson, Christina Aguilera, Pink and Missy Elliott. Then, in 2006, she starred as the talented ballerina Nora Clark in Step Up alongside her now ex-husband Channing Tatum.
‘Everyone thinks Jenna Dewan has a very unfair advantage because she is a professional dancer. That is how she began her career,’ another source said.
‘It’s like, “Duh, we all know she’s going to win.”‘
Dewan, for her part, addressed the fierce backlash, telling Entertainment Tonight: ‘I do not know how to ballroom dance. Let’s be clear. It’s two different languages. There’s parts of my dance training that’s helpful, obviously. I’ve learned choreography, I can perform, but there is a certain sense of unlearning for me.’
But Dewan isn’t the only celebrity casting for season 35 that has ruffled feathers, according to the source.
‘There are issues with Tatyana [Ali] being on the show,’ they said. ‘She is very close to the show’s co-host Alfonso Ribeiro because they were co-stars and played siblings in The Fresh Prince, so there is a massive bond there.’
Meanwhile, there is allegedly ‘some eyerolling’ behind the scenes at celebrities who are set to become ‘fan favorites’.
‘There’s some eyerolling going on because there are partners who they know are already going to be fan favorites: Ciara [Miller] after what she went through with Amanda [Batula] and West [Wilson] on Summer House, Maura [Higgins] since people felt bad Rob [Rausch] robbed her from winning The Traitors.’
