Maura Higgins has no interest in following in Taylor Frankie Paul’s footsteps as the next Bachelorette.
“Absolutely not,” the Traitors breakout star told Entertainment Tonight on Wednesday, April 22, at Hulu’s Get Real event, responding to fans calling for her to be on the ABC reality dating show.
Higgins said, “Guys, I’m 35!” going on to add, “Do you know what? I’m so happy. I don’t want a man. I don’t want anyone in my space. I like to come home to my beautiful, clean house. I don’t have to pick up their s***. I don’t actually have time anyway.”
“I need to get my trophy so I can pop it in my free Birkin,” Higgins went on to joke, referring to her upcoming stint on Dancing With the Stars season 35.
Higgins was famously gifted a Birkin bag by Traitors season 4 winner Rob Rausch after he deceived her on his way to victory and the show’s $220,800 prize pot.
“He told me he’s going to get me a gift, which is going to be a Birkin handbag. So when he gets that, then he’s fully forgiven,” Higgins exclusively told Us Weekly in February. “For me, a girl that has not watched Traitors, not one episode of Traitors, I got to the finale, and yeah, I didn’t win, but I got to wear all my outfits. And if I get that Birkin handbag from Rob, then for me, I have won. That’s all I need.”
Higgins, 35, and Summer House’s Ciara Miller were the first names announced for the new season of Dancing With the Stars set to premiere this fall.
Last season’s winner, Robert Irwin, meanwhile, will host a new spinoff show, Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro, which is due to premiere on ABC in July.
“Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro features 12 exceptional up-and-coming dancers who move into one house and compete in a grueling audition process,” a logline for the show reads. “[They are] all vying for a coveted spot as a pro dancer on season 35 of Dancing With the Stars.”
The budding hopefuls will be judged by DWTS pro Mark Ballas and his mom, Shirley Ballas, who serves as head judge on DWTS’ British incarnation, Strictly Come Dancing.
As for The Bachelorette, ABC pulled season 22 starring Paul in March after footage emerged of her and ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen involved in a domestic violence incident in 2023.
It’s not clear whether the season will eventually see the light of day.
“Everything with that is one day at a time,” Disney reality TV chief Rob Mills told Variety on Wednesday. “The day all of that stuff happened, really our first sort of concern was really for Taylor and the family and everyone involved in that … it was really more on a human level. I think her season is a wonderful season by Bachelor standards. If it gets seen, I’m sure people will absolutely enjoy it.”
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