Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas: The Dancing with the Stars Link, Explained
Maura Higgins is an Irish television personality whose roles span Love Island, The Traitors, and Dancing with the Stars. Here is what the official U.S. sources confirm about her partnership with Mark Ballas.
Who is Maura Higgins?
Maura Higgins is an Irish television personality, host, model, and creator from Ballymahon, Ireland. Peacock’s official profile identifies her as a Love Island UK Season 5 contestant. ABC’s Dancing with the Stars profile describes her later hosting work on Love Island USA: Aftersun and Love Island Games: Aftersun, as well as her runner-up finish on NBC’s The Traitors.
The reason Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas belong together in this story is specific: ABC lists Higgins as a Season 35 celebrity contestant and Ballas as her professional dance partner. Their connection is a Dancing with the Stars pairing, not a shared Love Island role.
What did Maura Higgins do before Dancing with the Stars?
Peacock’s account gives a useful starting point: Higgins appeared on Love Island UK Season 5 in 2019 and later became the host of Love Island: Aftersun in 2024. The same profile also lists her involvement with Love Island USA and Love Island Games.
ABC adds the more specific U.S. credits: Love Island USA: Aftersun and Love Island Games: Aftersun. That distinction matters. A contestant credit explains where many viewers first place her, while an Aftersun hosting credit shows that her role within the franchise later changed from appearing on the show to presenting its surrounding coverage.
Where does The Traitors fit?
Peacock’s official article says Higgins was competing on Season 4 of Peacock’s The Traitors. ABC’s biography records that she finished as the runner-up on NBC’s The Traitors.
That is a separate chapter from Dancing with the Stars, but it explains why her U.S. television profile is broader than Love Island alone. The documented sequence is a Love Island UK contestant credit, hosting work connected with the franchise’s U.S. shows, a The Traitors competition appearance, and then a Dancing with the Stars celebrity-contestant role.
What exactly is confirmed about the Mark Ballas pairing?
ABC’s cast announcement identifies Season 35 as the 2026 season and says its premiere was a two-night event on September 15 and 16, 2026. The official cast information supplies the decisive role labels: Higgins is the celebrity contestant, and Ballas is the professional dancer paired with her.
That supports a narrow but useful conclusion: Mark Ballas is not a biographical detail about Higgins or a Love Island connection. He is the professional partner attached to her Season 35 Dancing with the Stars run. The cited cast materials establish the pairing and premiere context; they do not establish weekly scores, elimination status, or final placement.
The simplest way to place her name
Maura Higgins is an Irish TV personality whose career has moved through distinct roles: Love Island UK contestant, host within the wider Love Island franchise, The Traitors competitor, and Dancing with the Stars celebrity contestant.
In the current ABC pairing, Higgins supplies the celebrity-contestant side and Mark Ballas supplies the professional-dancer side. Reading the connection through those roles keeps the facts separate while explaining why the two names appear together.