Dancing With The Stars finalist Ilona Maher has said she hopes she can inspire and elevate more players to superstar status in women’s rugby.

The 28-year-old player has more than eight million followers across Instagram and TikTok, making her the world’s most followed player on social media, and has moved to the UK to play for Bristol Bears in the Premiership Women’s Rugby League.

She announced her arrival in English rugby by helping her team generate a club-record crowd for a women’s game of just over 9,000 at the city’s Ashton Gate Stadium.

Her debut against Premiership champions Gloucester-Hartpury attracted fans from Kentucky and Washington DC, while Maher spent more than an hour after the game signing autographs and posing for pictures.

Maher took part in the 33rd series of Dancing With The Stars last year, partnered with professional dancer Alan Bersten, and finished as a runner-up on the US dancing show, behind The Bachelor star Joey Graziadei and his partner Jenna Johnson.

She became the first rugby player to compete on the show, and the first female partner in Dancing With The Stars history to lift her male partner.

Her older sister Olivia has also been credited with coining the term “girl dinner” on TikTok, which refers to a casual snack plate being eaten instead of a traditional meal.

Maher rose to fame while playing for the US rugby sevens team at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games where her team won a bronze medal, and in December 2024, she made the Forbes 30 under 30 list.

She is expected to make a major impact during her three-month stay with Bristol, then potentially at the England-hosted Women’s World Cup later this year where Maher hopes to be part of the United States squad.

Her commitment to rugby, enthusiasm for it and engagement with supporters has made her a star name in the sport.

“I love being a superstar,” she said. “People call me a superstar of rugby, but that’s not enough for the sport.

“We can’t just have one superstar, we need to have more, we need to have people connecting with so many different players, and that is what will grow our game.

“Right now, it seems to be ‘oh, it’s Ilona Maher, we’ve got to get her in this, this and this’. That’s where I want to bring these team-mates up.

“I am always trying to get my team-mates from the US sevens up. During the Olympics, so many of them put media out there and grew their following.

“I have seen the power in it, I’ve seen the power of people connecting with the individual and then going to a sport.

“People connect with (American basketball player) Caitlin Clark and go and see a game, and that brings more fans in.

“If we can have more people connect with (Bristol team-mates) Holly Aitchison, Jaz Joyce, Evie Gallagher, that brings them in, that brings fans in, so that is my goal.

“It is cool to be the face of a sport that isn’t thought of as a woman’s sport.

“The impact I am having is felt across men’s and women’s, and I’ve had some of the best men’s players in the world be, like, ‘keep doing what you’re doing’.

“I think everyone sees the value in it. If one rises, we all rise.

“So I am really proud of what I have done and the impact I am having on social media, not just in a rugby sense but in a body positivity sense, the way people are treating themselves.”

On the pitch, Maher’s focus will be to drive a play-off push for Bristol after a 40-17 loss against Gloucester-Hartpury left them seven points adrift of the top four.