{"id":936029,"date":"2026-10-21T10:08:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T10:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/936029\/"},"modified":"2026-10-21T10:08:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T10:08:10","slug":"maura-higgins-makes-it-a-great-night-to-be-irish-on-dwts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/936029\/","title":{"rendered":"Maura Higgins makes it a great night to be Irish on DWTS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maura Higgins had a night to remember on Dancing with the Stars on US TV, wearing a tricolour-themed dress as she dedicated her Paso Doble to Ireland – and receiving her highest score of the series to date.<\/p>\n

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It was Dedication Night this week, and Higgins was determined to fly the flag on ABC Television in the US.<\/p>\n

In rehearsals, when her professional dance partner, Mark Ballas, asked who she wanted to dedicate their performance to, Higgins replied: “I really want to dedicate it to Ireland.” <\/p>\n

“Because even though they can’t vote for me, I can still feel the love and support, even though we’re here thousands of miles away,” the Longford woman continued.<\/p>\n

“I miss my family and friends, so that’s why I’m doing it for them,” she said in her interview before the performance.<\/p>\n

“I just hope they’re very proud of me.<\/p>\n

“I can’t let Ireland down, that’s for sure.”<\/p>\n

\"maurahiggins_markballas_irishdance\"
\n“I’m so proud to show that real fighting Irish spirit”<\/p>\n

During rehearsals, Higgins received a message from Michael Flatley that read: “Maura, the whole of Ireland is so proud of you.<\/p>\n

“I’ve sent along one of my very best dancers from Lord of the Dance, Lucky [Howard].”<\/p>\n

“Hopefully, you can bring some luck to my dance!” said Higgins when she met the six-time world champion Irish dancer.<\/p>\n

Higgins explained to viewers: “Growing up in Ireland, we had to work hard to get where we are. So that’s definitely pushed me and it’s given me the fight.<\/p>\n

“And tonight, I’m so proud to show that real fighting Irish spirit.”<\/p>\n

“The Irish would say, ‘I’m allowed to do what I want in this dance!'” she joked to Ballas at the end of rehearsals.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n“I really want to dedicate it to Ireland. Because even though they can’t vote for me, I can still feel the love and support, even though we’re here thousands of miles away”<\/p>\n

On the night, the Paso Doble to the Dropkick Murphys’ I’m Shipping Up to Boston featured Higgins Irish dancing with Ballas and Howard – and it ended with a standing ovation.<\/p>\n

Guest judge Kym Johnson, a two-time Dancing with the Stars champion, said: “Maura, I felt your love of Ireland in every move that you did.”<\/p>\n

“It was passion, it was power, it was pride. You made me feel like I want to go to an Irish pub with you and do an Irish tea or something!” Johnson continued.<\/p>\n

“It was so good,” she concluded.<\/p>\n

Judge Bruno Tonioli said: “I got my Guinness in my hand! It hit you like a storm in the Irish Sea. The Pride of Ireland – unleashed!”<\/p>\n

“Careful with your shoulder line and the Spanish line. I know it’s an Irish Paso Doble, but I still have to have… you know what I’m talking about,” he continued.<\/p>\n

“Fabulous!” Tonioli concluded.<\/p>\n

After the judges – completed by Derek Hough and Carrie Ann Inaba – delivered their verdicts, Higgins was asked what she wanted to say “to everyone watching illegally in Ireland right now”.<\/p>\n

“Thank you for watching illegally!” she replied.<\/p>\n

“They’ve been so supportive, and I know they can’t vote, but I always feel their love and support no matter what I do, so honestly doing this for them was just such an honour.<\/p>\n

“I’m just so happy.”<\/p>\n

Carrie Ann Inaba gave the performance an eight; Derek Hough scored it a nine; Kym Johnson awarded the couple another nine, as did Bruno Tonioli, for a total of 35 points.<\/p>\n

It was the highest score in the competition for Higgins to date.<\/p>\n

\n

There were no eliminations on this week’s show. There will be a double elimination next week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Maura Higgins had a night to remember on Dancing with the Stars on US TV, wearing a tricolour-themed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":936030,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[64,63,134,427],"class_list":["post-936029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=936029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936029\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/936030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=936029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=936029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=936029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}