Maura Higgins is a few short weeks away from lacing up her dancing shoes and showing us what she’s made of on Dancing With The Stars USA.

All eyes will be on ABC come mid-September, when the celeb-professional dancer pairings will be announced for series 35.

Maura has already teased that perhaps she’d like to Waltz around with Val Chmerkovskiy by her side (on a list of things we’d love to see). One thing’s for certain, though, and that’s that Maura is hoping to steer clear of one pro in particular.

Maura has insisted she’s refusing to partner with Gleb Savchenko.

The 42-year-old Russian dancer has been a pro on the US version of the show since 2013, and has partnered with some pretty famous faces, including Lisa Vanderpump, Erika Jayne, Nikki Glaser, Chrishell Stause, Mel C, and most recently, Hilaria Baldwin.

But in 2024, Gleb famously had a fling with his dancing partner, Brooks Nader, who is a close friend of Maura’s.

After their romance fizzled out, Gleb spoke publicly about Brooks, and branded her ‘the worst sex’ he has ever had.

‘When I dated her, it was pretty bad. Probably the worst sex of my life,’ he said. The Russian also accused her of taking things to a rough level that he wasn’t comfortable with, claiming: ‘She was so f***ed up. She wanted to make out with me, and I was like, “That’s not my vibe.”‘

Gleb, who is a father to two daughters, also alleged that Brooks ‘choked me, pushed me against the wall, chipped my tooth’.

So, naturally, Maura’s fiercely loyal instincts have kicked in, and she’s standing with Brooks against Gleb.

Speaking to E! News, the Longford lady admitted: ‘I’d be happy with anyone but Gleb. That’s only because I’m loyal and I’m friends with Brooks.

‘I don’t really like the way he speaks about women. I don’t really want to spend all my time with someone like that. I’m like, no thank you.’

A source has since told The Sun that Gleb isn’t thrilled by Maura’s public comments about him. The insider said: ‘Gleb thought Maura was out of line coming for him like that. 

‘He gets that she is being a good mate and sticking up for her friend, but she wasn’t in the relationship and doesn’t know all sides of it.

‘It’s going to be really awkward backstage now. They’ll basically have to avoid each other as Gleb won’t be making small talk, and Maura’s not the type to back down either.’