Ilona Maher Reveals She Was Kept at the Nail Salon for an All-Too-Familiar Reason

When Saoirse Ronan said, “That’s what girls have to think about all the time,” she wasn’t being hyperbolic, and Olympian Ilona Maher just proved her point.

In a “story time” video posted to Instagram, Maher, who is currently competing on Dancing With the Stars, tells the story of her most recent pedicure. She went in near the end of the day, and while she was in the chair, a man came in and also asked for a pedicure. The women who worked at the salon kept telling Maher that her nails were not dry enough for her to leave until after the male customer had left. The female employees then admitted that they’d asked her to stay because they felt uncomfortable with the man’s presence, and it’s implied that Maher, who is tall and muscular, helped them feel secure. (She’s also a rugby player, a notoriously physical sport, and if you’ve ever met a women’s rugby team…yeah, they’re no joke. Someone once tried to rob my friend outside the college bar where the rugby team hung out and, boy, was he in for a surprise.)

They were right to be wary. As Maher explains, when she left the salon, the man was waiting and even asked to go home with her. She declined and kept walking, and thankfully the situation ended there.