Ilona Maher's dance partner Alan Bersten makes feelings known with an emotional message after last DWTS Tour show

Modified Apr 20, 2025 05:38 GMT

Ilona Maher's DWTS partner Alan Bersten got emotional as the DWTS Live Tour came to an end. The tour was conducted in 69 cities from January to April 2025.

Bersten uploaded a couple of snapshots from the final show conducted at Rosemont, Illinois, on his Instagram profile. The choreographer also shared a video message on his profile, where he thanked everyone for making this tour special.

Bersten said in the video message posted on his Instagram profile:

"So today is the last show of the Dancing with the Stars Tour. It's the last show of season 33, which was so special to me. And I wanna say thank you to everyone who's been a part of it."

Bersten added:

"I'm so grateful and so lucky to do what I love everyday. This is our 69th city, 88th show, and apparently almost 190000 people came to see the show."

Alan Bersten had teamed up with Olympic bronze medalist Ilona Maher for the 33rd season of the dance reality show Dancing with the Stars. Though they had a wobbly start, the dancing duo impressed both the jury and the audience to make it to the grand finale. They missed the mirrorball trophy by a whisker, finishing as runners-up overall.

Alan Bersten reveals what made his bond special with dance partner Ilona Maher

Alan Bersten talks about what made the bond special with DWTS partner Ilona Maher [Image Source : Getty]

Recently, Ilona Maher and Alan Bersten reunited on the podcast show The House of Maher. Ilona hosts the show alongside her siblings, Adrianna and Olivia.

During the talk show, when Olivia asked Bersten about his bond with Ilona Maher and what made it special, the choreographer replied:

"Some seasons, you know, you just do your job, you go in, you rehearse, and you leave. I feel like we became friends. We went to rest, we went to eat all the time, we went to the spa all the time, we worked out together. It was more than like oh, let's just dance, and I think that's what made the relationship really fun and the partnership really good.

Bersten added:

"It's weird because again, I've done this so many times , you never know what to expect. So, I got very lucky with you, Ilona."

Before pairing up with Alan Bersten on the DWTS Live Tour for guest appearances, Ilona Maher had participated in the Premiership Women's Rugby League. She represented the Bristol Bears, which went on to enter the semifinals.

About the author

Animesh Pandey is a seasoned content writer at Sportskeeda with over eight years of experience, having previously worked as an intern for Follow Your Sport before joining SK as a columnist in 2017. A graduate with a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing, he also worked at TFI Media Private Limited and contributed as an intern for the movie website Nettv4u.

He has extensively covered events from World Championships to the Olympics, providing insights and analyses that resonate with his audience. His belief in mastering the basics and delivering accurate, relevant, and ethical information through thorough research is reflected in his work.

He was notably invited to the National Sports and Adventure Awards 2018 at Rashtrapati Bhavan after winning a MyGov quiz on Indian Sports, where he engaged with celebrated athletes such as Rahi Sarnobat, Hima Das, Jinson Johnson, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu, and Subedar Neeraj Chopra, who also happens to be his favorite Olympian.

Despite being a field hockey enthusiast, Animesh's most cherished Olympic moments include Wayde Van Niekerk's unexpected world record in the 400 meters at Rio and Chopra's historic gold medal in Tokyo.

When not immersed in writing or watching the Olympics, Animesh indulges in his love for movies, embracing quality cinema regardless of the language.

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