Fans applied pressure like a drip, drip, drip all season, and they finally made it happen: Olympian and TikTok darling Ilona Maher performed as Encanto’s Luisa Madrigal on Disney night on Dancing With the Stars. “I really resonate with Luisa. I too grew up as a bigger female,†she said in the rehearsal package during the October 22 episode. “She is big and broad but she is so beautiful. She doesn’t ever try to shrink herself for the world. I’m so happy I’m sharing that with people now.â€
During the jazz routine to “Surface Pressure,†Maher carried the weight of the world — and the weight of her donkey-fied partner Alan Bersten — on her shoulders to earn her first nine of the season from judge Carrie Ann Inaba. Now, we all know that Disney loves a live-action remake. We haven’t heard of any plans to adapt Encanto yet, but if it does have to happen, we have one humble request: no humans dressed up as animals, please. Forget Bruno, it should be Bersten’s terrifying look below that we don’t talk about.
@ilonamaher Sorry for the jump scare tonight @Dancing with the Stars DWTS
♬ Stick Beside Him - April O'Ke-ard