Ilona Maher was the talk of "Disney Night" with her Encanto-inspired dance, and it's safe to say Alan Bersten's horrifying donkey costume helped. These two are the most entertaining couple on Dancing With The Stars with thier great performances and hilarious TikToks, to the point that I'm pulling for them to get their own reality show on the 2025 TV schedule. Case-and-point: I couldn't stop laughing at their attempt to replicate a viral move done by Danny Amendola and Witney Carson.
Amendola and Carson were at the top of the leaderboard the previous week of the competition, thanks to a dance that solidified him as a front-runner in my eyes. He's doing things other competitors can't, as Ilona Maher and Alan Bersten hilariously illustrated online.
Danny Amendola And Witney Carson Set The Competion On Fire With Their Viral Dance
For those who missed DWTS' "Dedication Night" episode that aired last week on the 2024 TV schedule and haven't streamed it yet with a Disney+ subscription, it featured the arrival of Danny Amendola as a top contender thanks to his contemporary routine. Check out the performance with Witney Carson below, which netted him 36 points from the judges' panel:
It was a stunning performance, especially with that move which featured him lifting Carson completely off the ground by pulling on her leg. Then, the moment got a second life on TikTok as people tried to create it on their own. Clearly, it takes a lot of strength to pull off, and I'm guessing something more than that is involved too after seeing Ilona Maher and Alan Bersten try to replicate it.
Ilona Maher And Alan Bersten Tried To Replicate The Move, But Failed
I'll concede that I thought Danny Amendola's big move came down to upper body strength, but there's more to it than that, obviously. Alan Bersten and Ilona Maher both took turns trying to lift each other the same way, and kept failing in the most hilarious way:
@ilonamaher ♬ original sound - Ilona Maher
Notably, like the football player's move, the rugby player's attempt to recreate it has also gone viral. That's not surprising though since she is a certified TikTok star who is genuinly funny.
She's as hilarious as she is talented, and I regret not noticing it sooner. Ilona Maher was not listed as one of my frontrunners at the start of DWTS' season, but she certainly is as of now. Her immense popularity and drive to improve is the perfect combination for the average competitor, and I'd love to see her go home with the Mirrorball trophy in Dancing With The Stars Season 33.
It's hard to say who is looking like the future winner of this season, as the audience vote can certainly throw a wrench in the proceedings. Fortunately, this season hasn't had many cases of contestants who aren't good dancers sticking around merely because they're popular. Fortunately, Ilona Maher is a pretty good dancer and she's super popular on social media, so I think she has a decent shot of making it to the finale.
We're still far from the finale, so watch Dancing With The Stars on ABC on Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. Season 33 has been a thrill to watch so far, thanks to viral moves and funny moments like this one, and with a Halloween-themed episode on the way, I don't see it getting boring anytime soon.