Maura Higgins is only thinking about lacing up her ballroom shoes on Dancing With the Stars season 35 — and no romances.
“To be honest, I just want to put my focus on the dancing,” Higgins, 35, exclusively told Us on Wednesday, September 2, when asked if a relationship was off the table, as partner Mark Ballas chimed in, “Ain’t nobody got time for that.”
Higgins agreed with her partner’s sentiment, saying, “Yeah, there’s no time. These rehearsals are like …” Ballas, 40, interjected to add, “We’re busy.”
Higgins was previously announced before Wednesday as one of the celebrities competing on the beloved reality show, where she is partnered with her former Traitors costar Ballas. While the pair already have some history together, Higgins shared that she didn’t learn “anything” from the NBC show that she will bring with her to DWTS.
“I learned that I’m a very bad game player. I don’t do well playing games. I mean, I knew that before going in. I don’t think there’s anything I can really bring from Traitors to the ballroom,” she said. “It’s such a different show. Obviously you’re looking over your shoulder and you can’t trust anyone in there. But it’s nice now because this show, everyone is like a family. I can actually trust Mark. He’s the professional. He’s not going to want to let me down. I don’t want to let him down. So we’re a team.”
While all pairings are vying for the Len Goodman mirrorball trophy, the former Love Island star shared that she’s “not looking at it like a competition.”
“I just want to put my focus on working really hard. Doing the best I can do and have fun along with it. Everyone is so lovely. I can’t look at someone like competition because everyone is so sweet,” she said.
From Ballas’ perspective, it’s hard to predict who could be the biggest competition on the ballroom floor.
“You don’t know. Time and time again — we’re in season 35 many of you have watched before — you just don’t know. Some people vote for the journey. Some people vote for explosive dances. Some people vote for improvement over time. Some people vote because they get a laugh,” he said. “You just never know. You just have to see how it goes.”
Dancing With the Stars season 35 kicks off with a two-night premiere on ABC and Disney+ Tuesday, September 15, and Wednesday, September 16, at 8 p.m. ET.
