Maura Higgins may look confident every time she steps onto the Dancing With the Stars ballroom floor, but the reality star has revealed that the experience behind the scenes has been far more emotional than viewers might realize.
The 35-year-old, who is competing on Season 35 alongside professional partner Mark Ballas, has admitted that the constant criticism and technical corrections involved in learning ballroom dance have sometimes left her struggling to hold back tears.
Speaking with former DWTS contestant Alix Earle, Maura explained that she normally prefers to keep difficult emotions to herself rather than break down in front of other people.
“I don’t usually cry,” she explained, describing herself as someone who normally waits until she gets home before allowing her emotions to come out. But the intensity of Dancing With the Stars has made that increasingly difficult.
The problem, according to Maura, is that even when she is told she is performing well, almost every compliment seems to be followed by another technical correction.
During rehearsals, Mark Ballas might point out her hands, feet or posture, while the judges can then highlight additional areas she needs to improve once she performs live.
For Maura, hearing so many corrections at once has sometimes made it difficult to recognize her own progress.
She admitted that the experience can leave her feeling as though she is doing everything wrong, despite simultaneously being told she is improving.
“Yeah, you just feel like you’re s***,” Maura told Alix while discussing how difficult the early weeks of the competition can become emotionally.
Maura also acknowledged that part of the pressure comes from herself.
She described being extremely hard on her own performances, which means criticism about her arms, neck, hips, feet and other technical details can quickly pile up mentally.
The emotions have occasionally followed her away from the rehearsal room as well.
Maura revealed that she had cried in the bathroom during the competition and admitted that she initially did not want cameras to capture her becoming emotional.
She previously spoke about another difficult rehearsal after Viral Hits Night, explaining that exhaustion and frustration eventually became overwhelming when she struggled to make the choreography stick in her mind.
“I couldn’t hold it in,” Maura said of that moment, explaining that she was physically and mentally exhausted while trying to learn her cha-cha with Mark.
Despite those difficult moments behind the scenes, Maura and Mark have continued to produce competitive performances in the ballroom.
Their partnership has also received encouraging comments from the judges, making the contrast between what viewers see on Tuesday nights and what happens during several days of intense rehearsals particularly striking.
For Maura, the competition appears to be becoming as much a mental challenge as a physical one.
Every week brings another dance style, new choreography and another round of judging, leaving little time to celebrate one performance before preparation for the next begins.
And while Maura has often appeared composed when the cameras are rolling, her latest comments reveal just how much effort — and emotion — has been going into those few minutes viewers eventually see on the ballroom floor.
