Ilona Maher and Joey Graziadei Courtesy of Ilona Maher/Instagram
Ilona Maher is still on the fence about possibly becoming the next Bachelorette lead.
“I was talking to Joey [Graziadei] the Bachelor about it and he was like, ‘If you do it, you just have to need more control,’ because it is a produced show,” Maher, 28, exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting her partnership with Quaker Oats. “The big reason I wouldn’t do it is I don’t get to control how I’m portrayed, how people are portrayed.”
She added, “My thing is, online, I get to portray myself however I want to. Yet with a reality show, you’re made to be so different ways and that’s just never been me. I want to tell my own story, so, I don’t think I would do it.”
That being said, Maher would be willing to change her tune “if America really needs me to date 30 men.”
Maher has been candid about her single status via social media, even creating a Love Island-style spoof from the Olympic Village in Paris this summer. She met Graziadei, 29, on season 33 of Dancing With the Stars and finished as runner-up behind him. (Graziadei was the Bachelor for season 28, getting engaged to Kelsey Anderson earlier this year.)
There haven’t been any official announcements about the next Bachelorette (Grant Ellis’ season of The Bachelor debuts in January). As for the Olympic bronze medalist, she hasn’t dipped her toe into the real-life dating pool either.
“I haven’t had time, but when you’re trying to build something, it’s like you’re really invested in that and I am invested in what I’m doing now,” Maher, who is about to move to England to play rugby for the Bristol Bears, told Us. “Dancing with the Stars was all I was focusing on. I was in the studio every day. With rugby, with social media, it’s all I’m focused on.”
She continued, “I think it would just take somebody very special, somebody who, as we say, enhances my life for me to want to do it.”
In the meantime, Maher still loves “going on dates.”
“I saw one video of a girl who’s like, ‘As we know, Ilona hasn’t been on a date in years.’ Wrong,” she quipped to Us. “I go on dates. I just don’t like a lot of people. … I always love making connections and meeting people. I think first dates are fun.”
Maher pointed out, however, that initial dates can be awkward and weird.
“You can immediately know if you don’t like somebody, but then it can also be, really, a cool experience. So, whatever happens,” Maher said. “I’m looking for a British babe, I guess.”
While Maher keeps her eyes peeled for The One, she also plans to go into the New Year fueled up thanks to Quaker Oats.
“After the Olympics, it’s been so cool to see all this interest from brands that I actually use and grew up using,” Maher said. “So, when they reached out, it was really cool because this is something that we had in our cabinet — and I think my parents still probably have … that’s always just there. It’s really nice because my brand is about authenticity, it’s about partnering with things that I love and spreading that message and never being forced about it and having something that feels natural to promote.”
With reporting by Mariel Turner
