Maura Higgins already has an idea of who she wants to cha-cha her way to the top of the leaderboard with on Dancing With the Stars season 35.
“The training is meant to be quite grueling,” Higgins, 35, exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting her partnership with Wingstop. “That’s why I want Mark [Ballas], because maybe he might go easy on me a bit. But then I do probably need to be pushed.”
Higgins and Ballas, 40, first connected on season 4 of The Traitors, which saw her going all the way to the finale — only to be betrayed by Rob Rausch. (He famously gave her a burgundy-colored Birkin to make up for it).
Ballas, for his part, told Us earlier this month that he’s “not sure” whether he might return for DWTS season 35. In that case, Higgins has a back-up plan.
“If it’s not Mark, I think I’d want Val [Chmerkovskiy],” Higgins told Us. “I mean, to be honest, I’m OK to have anyone else. I just don’t want Gleb [Savchenko]. That’s the main thing for me.”
Higgins explained that her reasoning for not wanting to be paired with Savchenko, 42, has to do with his rocky past with on-off ex and DWTS season 33 partner Brooks Nader.
“It’s not even being mean. It’s just because I get on with Brooks and that’s that. I’m on Brooks’ side,” Higgins told Us, before referencing her mindset from The Traitors. “I’m a loyalist, OK?”
As Higgins prepares to lace up her ballroom shoes against fellow confirmed contestants Summer House star Ciara Miller and Savannah Bananas’ Jackson Olson, she admitted it’s “laughable” that season 34 winner Robert Irwin thinks could have a chance at the mirrorball trophy.
“I’m happy about it because he’s putting it out to the universe,” she told Us of Irwin’s prediction. “He’s basically manifesting my win. Which, yeah, I’ll take that. I’m not very confident in myself, but I’ll take it. I’m trying to manifest the best for me as well. Even if I could get to just the — I say
‘just the final,’ like, getting to the final would be absolutely amazing — but I’ve never won a show in my life.”
She continued, “Came close though with Rob [on The Traitors], but didn’t really. I’d love to win. But I don’t know. I can only do my best, that’s all I can do. I don’t want to go in like, ‘I have to win, I have to win,’ because that’s just going to rip all the fun away. I just want to enjoy it and work as hard as I can. But thanks, Robert. I’ll try.”
While Higgins is balancing being “on a flight every three days” ahead of the reality competition show, she partnered with Wingstop to help launch their new rewards program. In celebration of Club Wingstop, Higgins handpicked a limited-edition “Club in a Box” that fans can purchase online for 94 cents starting Monday, June 1.
“Obviously, I know a lot about loyalty from doing reality TV for many years. This is kind of like a taster of what members can get. They can get access to new flavors and events, and it’s just very exciting,” Higgins told Us, revealing that her favorite order from the brand is lemon pepper, fries and a “big-ass ranch” on the side. “Fans have been wanting this for a long time, so it’s about time.”
Dancing With the Stars returns on ABC and Disney+ this fall.
