Disney / Andrew Eccles
Maura Higgins didn’t find lasting love in the Love Island villa, but she’s become a reality TV powerhouse. Her run on The Traitors Season 4 was legendary, and many viewers were hoping for a showmance between Higgins and Love Island USA alum Rob Rausch. (Never forget the iconic moment when Rausch told Higgins that he’d been a Traitor the entire time.)
The Irish reality star made quite the debut on Dancing With the Stars Season 35 alongside pro partner Mark Ballas. With Higgins at the top of the leaderboard, all eyes are on her. So, what’s her relationship status? Is she single or seeing someone?Swooonis breaking down her relationship status and dating history, including her past with villa ex Curtis Pritchard.
Who is Maura Higgins dating?
The 35-year-old Irish celeb is currently single. She confirmed that she’s not dating anyone in her September 2026 interview with Cosmopolitan. Higgins also revealed that she’s been celibate for over a year.
“If something happens, I’m definitely open to it, but I’m not just going to open myself back up to anyone,” she said.
In December 2025, Higgins told the New York Post, “I am happily single. I have been single the whole year. So, I’ve been single since January, and I’m going to do it until January. I’m not going on dates.”
Did Maura Higgins and Rob Rausch date?
Despite their onscreen chemistry, Higgins and Rausch never had a romantic relationship on The Traitors.
The Rob and Maura ship really took off during the Burning Effigies challenge, which involved quite a bit of running. Rausch offered to carry Higgins the rest of the way when she couldn’t run anymore. A viewer captured the moment he tossed her over his shoulder and shared the video to Instagram, which Higgins reposted to her story. “Everyone wishing they were Maura,” the caption said.
Charles Sykes / Bravo
“I’m not gonna ruin it for the viewers, but no, nothing ever happened between me and Rob,” Higgins told Us Weekly in February 2026. “I genuinely look at Rob like a brother. Literally nothing ever happened.” Rausch echoed what Higgins said about their relationship and stressed that they “did not” hook up, and “we will not” in the future. “We are just friends,” he said.
During the Season 35 premiere of Dancing With the Stars, Rausch was in the audience supporting Higgins. He was seen holding the Birkin bag he bought her and urged fans to vote for her.
What is Maura Higgins’ relationship history?
James Finnegan
Before she entered the Love Island world, Higgins had a childhood sweetheart. She started dating James Finnegan, now a car salesman, when she was a teenager. They even got engaged before they split in 2017.
Shane McGuigan
Higgins also had a relationship before reality TV with the son of professional boxer Barry McGuigan. She was a ring girl at a match, while Shanewas a radio show commentator. They reportedly stayed together for a year in 2018, and Higgins went on to star in the I’m A Celebrity reality show alongside Shane’s dad in 2024.
Curtis Pritchard
Her most famous relationship, of course, is the one she formed in the villa back in 2019. Higgins and Pritchard made it to the finale ofLove Island UK Season 5. They dated on the outside for about seven months, made their relationship official, and then called it quits in March 2020.
Jeff Spicer / Getty Images
At the time, Higgins revealed to The Sun, “Curtis and I barely saw each other. At the beginning, it was very, very hard because I was so besotted with him, and we never got to see each other. When we did, it was really nice because you got the time to miss somebody. But sometimes it would be two weeks. You know when you’re in a relationship, and you know someone’s day-to-day? We were that busy that we didn’t, and it was strange.”
Reflecting on their relationship almost five years later, Higgins said her feelings weren’t all that strong toward Pritchard. A Sunday Times interview asked if she ever felt “true passion” toward her ex, and she said “no.” She explained, “You’re in this confined space, and maybe you think you like someone that you probably wouldn’t on the outside.”
Chris Taylor
Higgins moved on in November 2020 with another Love Island alum, Chris Taylor. They broke up six months later. During an appearance on Celebs Go Dating, Taylor reflected, “I became friends with Maura, and we were mates for ages, and then it kind of progressed into other things.” He added he had fallen in love with Higgins, but suspected she didn’t return the sentiment.
Ricky Vigil / Getty Images
Giovanni Pernice
Higgins went public with Strictly Come Dancing pro Giovanni Pernice in summer 2021. They split four months later, with Higgins deleting all traces of him from her social media. On Instagram, her ex wrote of their breakup, “I wanted to say a couple of things… Firstly, great relationships with great people can come to a natural end. This has been the case for me recently. There was absolutely no wrongdoing, and this should be the end of any speculation.”
Bobby Holland Hanton
Higgins started dating Hollywood stunt double Bobby Holland Hanton in May 2023, and their relationship lasted for 10 months. They’ve since unfollowed each other on Instagram, where they once appeared frequently in each other’s photos and comment sections.
There have been rumors that Higgins dated others, including Strictly dancer and longtime friend Pete Wicks. They were linked in late 2024 before outlets reported that they’d split in early 2025, but neither of them ever confirmed that they’d become more than friends.
Dancing With the Stars,Season 35, Tuesdays, 8/7c, ABC