Maura Higgins, a 35-year-old television personality, is currently preparing for her first appearance on the US version of Dancing With The Stars. While sharing her rigorous rehearsal process, the Love Island star is facing allegations of producer favoritism and cast tension.
Why the Mark Ballas pairing sparked cast resentment
The decision to pair Maura Higgins with Mark Ballas, the son of longtime judge Shirley Ballas, has reportedly created a rift among the Dancing With The Stars contestants. According to the source, insiders have described a growing sense of resentment within the cast, with some claiming that producers provided preferential treatment to Higgins to leverage her significant social media reach and public profile.
This dynamic is not uncommon in high-stakes reality competitions, where the commercial value of a celebrity often dictates their placement and pairing. By aligning Higgins with a legacy name like Mark Ballas, the production potentially secures a more marketable narrative, though it risks alienating other participants who feel the competition's integrity is being compromised for ratings.
Maura Higgins' refusal to partner with Gleb Savchenko
A significant point of contention involves Higgins' reported influence over her own casting. The report says that Maura Higgins was instrumental in selecting Mark Ballas as her partner because she strongly opposed being matched with Gleb Savchenko , a Russian professional dancer. This refusal was reportedly based on Higgins' loyalty to her friend Brooks Nader, a former contestant who previously dated Savchenko, as well as Higgins' disapproval of Savchenko's public comments regarding women.
The fallout from this decision has left Gleb Savchenko without a celebrity partner for the season. Savchenko has since dismissed the drama, stating he had never met Maura Higgins and refused to be bothered by the opinions of a stranger. However, the situation leaves an open question regarding how much power a single celebrity contestant actually wields over the show's professional pairings—a detail the producers have not officially confirmed.
A substantial fee from I'm A Celebrity provides a safety net
While the dance competition is physically and socially taxing, Maura Higgins enters the fray with significant professional security. The source reports that Higgins has been named as the co-host for the American edition of I'm A Celebrity. This role reportedly guarantees her a substantial fee, ensuring her financial success regardless of whether she is eliminated in the earliest rounds of Dancing With The Stars.
This dual-role strategy highlights a broader trend of "cross-pollination" in American reality TV , where personalities are slotted into multiple high-visibility projects simultaneously to maximize their brand equity. For Higgins,the dance competition serves as a promotional vehicle for her broader television career rather than a standalone professional risk.
Gold shoes and exhaustion in the rehearsal studio
Despite the surrounding controversy, Maura Higgins has used Instagram to document the physical toll of her training. The images show the Irish star in black gym attire and gold dance shoes, appearing exhausted and sprawled on the studio floor after intense sessions with Mark Ballas. These snapshots are intended to demonstrate her commitment to the demanding routines required for the competition.
The report also notes that Higgins maintains close public interactions with judge Bruno Tonioli, further fueling the rumors of favoritism. While the photos suggest a blossoming friendship between Higgins and Ballas—which reportedly began during their time on the American version of The Traitors—the proximity to the judging panel remains a point of scrutiny for the other contestants.
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