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Strutting into the 2019 Love Island villa in a tight white £75 dress from Asos, with mischief, fame and fortune in mind, Maura Higgins became the fledgling ITV show’s ultimate bombshell.
asserted
Higgins → publish → mind
Loud-mouthed, unapologetic and highly ambitious, Maura had no problem sabotaging fellow contestants by stealing their men or doing whatever she could to get to the final.
uncertain
she → have → final
In the end she finished fourth – but no matter.
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she → finish → end
The relatively new TV show hadn’t seen anyone as single-minded as her in its then-four-year run, and producers rubbed their hands with glee as she proved a ratings goldmine.
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she → see → goldmine
Fast-forward seven years and Storm Maura – having blown itself out in the UK after various appearances on reality TV failed to launch her into the small screen A-list – is now rumbling across the Atlantic as she doggedly pursues her lifelong dream of cracking the US.
Those who know her say that the 35-year-old Irish model, also known for her 2024 appearance on I’m A Celebrity and for once dating reality star and former Strictly contestant Pete Wicks, is intent on becoming ‘bigger than Kim Kardashian’.
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I → blow → Kardashian
Unlikely as it sounds, I’m told that she’s fast making a name for herself on the US version of Strictly, Dancing With The Stars, which she’s currently filming in LA.
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she → sound → LA
Partnered with pro-dancer Mark Ballas, the son of Strictly’s judge Shirley Ballas, Maura topped the leaderboard in week four and is now tipped to lift the coveted glitterball.
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Maura → partner → glitterball
In fact she is working so hard, onlookers have voiced concerns about her weight, and she recently sustained a neck injury in her bid to perfect the tango, collapsing to the floor in agony.
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she → work → agony
Judge Bruno Tonioli, himself a recent US import having left Strictly in 2022, has said he’s ‘never seen anything like her’.
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he → leave → her
Americans famously love a hard worker.
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Americans → love → worker
‘When she is not training, she is out networking or promoting herself in the US media,’ a show insider told me.
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insider → train → me
‘It’s blood, sweat and tears, but without any tears.’
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It → ’ → tears
‘She’s throwing everything she has at Dancing With The Stars [DWTS].
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she → throw → Stars
She is determined to win and will tread on anyone who stands in her way.
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who → win → way
‘Maura’s been all smiles and has done a particularly good job of wooing the show’s bosses, but behind the scenes she is absolutely ruthless.
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she → do → scenes
Most people stab you in the back; Maura takes a chainsaw to your face.
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Maura → stab → face
She must have the sharpest elbows in Hollywood and is on the pathway to becoming the next Kim Kardashian.’
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She → have → pathway
Maura will be highly flattered by the comparison: she’s long been an admirer of the original reality TV megastar turned multi-millionaire beauty mogul.
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she → flatter → megastar
She often quotes her in interviews, and was spotted in the VIP area of Wimbledon over the summer hanging out with the Kardashians’ longtime hairstylist, Chris Appleton.
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She → quote → hairstylist
She’s also caught the eye of streaming sites Hulu and Disney Plus, home to the hit series The Kardashians.
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She → catch → series
They have signed her to present a reboot of the hit classic Blind Date, which so famously resurrected the career of singer Cilla Black.
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which → sign → Black
The show is due to air next year and producers are convinced that Maura’s wit and humour will make her the natural successor to Cilla.
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her → air → Cilla
‘She’s throwing everything she has at Dancing With The Stars,' an insider tells Dolly Busby.
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insider → throw → Busby
'She is determined to win and will tread on anyone who stands in her way'
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who → win → way
But while her particular brand of Irish cheekiness and acerbic put-downs is making her plenty of fans, it is also incurring the wrath of others.
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it → make → others
In May, she went on popular television show E! News where she bad-mouthed DWTS professional dancer Gleb Savchenko – supposedly out of loyalty to her friend the Baywatch actress Brooks Nader, who previously dated him.
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who → go → him
Maura told the programme she’d happily be partnered with anyone but Gleb as she didn’t like ‘the way he speaks about women’.
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he → tell → women
The jibe made her extremely unpopular backstage: ‘The way she trashed Gleb in public was absolutely brutal and she knew it would help raise her profile,’ a source told me.
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source → make → me
‘Maura knows how to play the game and how to play people, but she’s put a lot of noses out of joint.’
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she → know → joint
But Maura’s intense ambition to get to the top is of little surprise to those who know her.
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who → get → her
Growing up in the small town of Ballymahon in County Longford, where her beloved ‘Mammy’ still lives, Maura left school aged 16 to become a hairdresser but soon wanted more.
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Maura → grow → more
Aged 17, she became a ‘Monster’ girl – a promotional girl, hired by the drinks brand Monster Energy, to stand around in skimpy outfits at major sports events handing out merchandise and flirting with guests.
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she → age → guests
Growing up in the small town of Ballymahon in County Longford, Maura left school aged 16 to become a hairdresser but wanted more
‘
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Maura → grow → more
I loved it, I totally loved it,’ she once said, but the job did not provide the riches she craved.
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she → love → riches
When her childhood sweetheart, and then fiance, did not support her new role, she broke up with him, and at one point was so poor she nearly ended up homeless.
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she → support → point
‘I was really struggling; I needed whatever job I could get at that point,’ she told relationship expert Paul Brunson’s tell-all podcast, We Need To Talk.
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We → struggle → podcast
‘When me and my ex broke up I struggled to pay for the house, car...
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I → break → house
I needed money.
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I → need → money
‘There were many winters where I wore four pairs of fluffy socks and dressing gowns, and had condensation coming out of my mouth because I couldn’t afford heating.
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I → be → heating
Still living in Ballymahon, she called her father, Seamus Higgins, for help.
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she → live → help
…and 38 more, not listed.
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