Mark Ballas was determined on “The Traitors” to banish the right people. Maura Higgins was more interested in fashion. Her friendship with traitor Rob Rausch of “Love Island USA” got her to the finale.
Ballas, 40, and Higgins, 35, are dance partners for “Dancing with the Stars” Season 35. The professional dancer admitted that he was surprised by the Irish reality star in rehearsal after seeing how she worked on the Peacock show.
Maura Higgins’s Work Ethic on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Surprised Mark Ballas
Higgins and Ciara Miller of “Summer House” were the first stars revealed for season 35. The After Sun host told PEOPLE that she’s having fun and “working really hard.” The “Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro” co-host said he was surprised because Higgins was notoriously terrible at challenges in the mystery game.
“During the run, she was like, ‘Oh, I want to do ‘Dancing with the Stars.’’ I was like, ‘Maura, you can’t make it through a 45-minute challenge. How are you going to make it through 10 hours of rehearsal?’” Ballas said. “She’s like, ‘I don’t want to carry my rocks in a backpack up a mountain. I want to learn how to dance.’”
The television personality admitted she didn’t care about the missions that added money to the prize pot. The pot that faithfuls could share at the end of the season, or the traitors could take for themselves and leave the faithfuls penniless.
“But this is different, because do I want to go out and have a terrible performance?” Higgins added. “No. I want to look my best and know my routine and I just don’t want to be [expletive].”
She started sharing videos of their rehearsals on Instagram on Sept. 3. The dating show host twirled into her dance partner, then slowly fell to the floor. Higgins captioned the next gallery of pictures with “MAURA: look how good I am,” then wrote “MAAAAAAAARRRKKKKK: it’s a 4.”
Will Maura Higgins Find Love on the Dancing Show?
GettyCelebrities have dated dancers and found love while competing. Ballas is married to singer-songwriter B.C. Jean. But is Higgins open to anyone else while competing on the ABC show?
“To be honest, I just want to put my focus on the dancing,” she told Us Weekly. Ballas was also against her losing focus. “Ain’t nobody got time for that,” he said.
The rest of the pairs are Julia Stiles and Ezra Sosa, Jenna Dewan and Val Chmerkovskiy, Tatyana Ali and Jan Ravnik, Taylor Hanson and Britt Stewart, Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach, Amber Glenn and Pasha Pashkov, Connor Wood and Rylee Arnold, Sarah Jane Nader and Hailey Bills, Tyler Cameron and Sharna Burgess, Giada DeLaurentiis and Alan Bersten, Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Chmerkovskiy, Conner Leavitt and Adele Zaikman, Guillermo Rodriguez and Witney Carson, Ciara Miller and Brandon Armstrong, Jackson Olson and Emma Slater.
Season 35 premieres on Tuesday, Sept. 15, and Wednesday, Sept. 16, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+.
