Does Maura Higgins Have Dance Experience? Her Irish Dancing and Dancing on Ice Past Explained

Maura Higgins may not be entering “Dancing with the Stars” Season 35 with a completely blank performance resume, but calling her an experienced dancer would be misleading. The “Love Island” and “The Traitors” star has said that she did “a bit of Irish dancing” when she was younger, though she has repeatedly described herself as someone who has never really danced. She also competed on ITV’s “Dancing on Ice” in 2020, where she learned choreographed routines with professional skater Alexander Demetriou. That experience should make a live television performance less unfamiliar, but it is very different from years of formal ballroom or professional dance training. Higgins therefore enters DWTS with some useful performance experience, rather than the extensive dance background several viewers may assume she has.

Related: DWTS Season 35 Judges and Hosts: Who Is Returning?

Maura Higgins did some Irish dancing as a child

Higgins’ clearest traditional dance experience comes from her childhood in Ireland, although she has never presented it as serious long-term training. While discussing the possibility of joining “Dancing with the Stars” before her casting was announced, she said she had done some Irish dancing when she was younger but otherwise considered herself someone who had never danced. That distinction matters because childhood exposure to Irish dancing is not the same as competing or working professionally as a dancer. There is no reliable indication that Higgins reached an advanced competitive level or continued formal Irish dance training into adulthood. Her own description of it as “a bit” of Irish dancing is probably the fairest way to characterize that part of her background.

Dancing on Ice gave Maura performance experience, not ballroom training

Higgins’ biggest previous dance-related television experience came when she joined “Dancing on Ice” in 2020, but she entered that competition as a skating beginner. Before taking part, she said she had skated only once in her life for fun and had no skating experience, which meant much of what audiences eventually saw was learned during the competition. Paired with professional skater Alexander Demetriou, Higgins gradually improved while performing choreographed routines in front of judges and a live audience. She remained in the competition until February 16, 2020, when she lost a skate-off against Paralympic sprinter Libby Clegg and Mark Hanretty after the judging panel split its votes. The experience undoubtedly taught Higgins about choreography, timing and performing under pressure, but figure skating technique does not turn her into a trained ballroom dancer.

Maura had already danced with Mark Ballas before DWTS

There is another small piece of Higgins’ dance history that becomes more relevant now because her Season 35 professional partner is Mark Ballas. Higgins and Ballas previously appeared together on “The Traitors” Season 4, and she later recalled that the two of them occasionally danced while they were inside the castle. She described those moments as fun rather than serious training, so there is no indication that Ballas was secretly coaching her for DWTS months before the competition. Still, their existing friendship means Higgins is not beginning rehearsals with a completely unfamiliar professional partner. Ballas is also a three-time DWTS champion, giving Higgins an experienced teacher as she tries to turn limited previous dance exposure into proper ballroom technique.

Does Dancing on Ice give Maura an advantage on DWTS?

Her “Dancing on Ice” experience could help in a few areas, but it should not be confused with a technical ballroom advantage. Higgins already knows what it feels like to learn choreography quickly, work closely with a professional partner and perform a routine while being judged on live television. She has also dealt with lifts, physical training and the pressure of surviving week after week on a performance competition. Those skills may make the television side of DWTS less intimidating than it would be for a complete first-timer. What she still has to learn is the ballroom-specific material, including footwork, frame, partnering technique and the different requirements of individual dance styles.

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That makes Higgins’ background notably different from contestants who arrive with years of formal dance training. Season 35 includes celebrities whose previous experience ranges from childhood lessons to substantial professional work, so simply placing every contestant with some dance history into the same category can be misleading. Higgins has enough experience to understand choreography and stage performance, but her resume does not resemble that of someone who spent years working as a professional dancer. Even she has been candid about viewing DWTS as a major challenge rather than a return to something she already knows how to do. That should make her progress with Ballas one of the more revealing parts of her season rather than a foregone conclusion.

Is Maura Higgins a trained dancer?

No, there is currently no evidence that Maura Higgins should be considered a professionally trained dancer. She did some Irish dancing when she was young, later learned performance routines during “Dancing on Ice,” and has enough reality television experience to be comfortable in front of an audience. Those experiences give her a better starting point than someone who has never followed choreography at all, but they do not amount to years of ballroom training. Higgins herself has repeatedly emphasized how little dance experience she believes she has, which is more useful than trying to inflate her childhood lessons into something they were not. Season 35 will ultimately show how quickly that limited foundation translates when Mark Ballas begins asking her to master actual ballroom technique.