Ilona Maher Promises Her Viral Online Presence Is Exactly 'How I Am in Real Life' (Exclusive)

What you see is what you get when it comes to Team USA rugby star Ilona Maher.

The newly minted Olympic bronze medalist says that while she may have nearly 2 million followers on TikTok, there’s nothing calculated about her social media presence.

“It’s very much off the cuff. It’s kind of like, my teammates say I say my jokes twice — once to them, and then once to the world, so it’s just riffing,” she tells PEOPLE at the Team USA house in Paris on July 31. “Whatever I am online is how I am in real life. [My teammates] keep me grounded, they keep me sane.”

Maher, 27, says she considers her squad her “sisters,” as she knows they’ll keep it real with her, even as she continues to go viral for her hilarious insights into life as an Olympic athlete. Recent hits have included her joking about the cardboard beds in the Olympic Village, and references to the hit reality series Love Island.

“They tell me what’s right, what’s not, so they’re just the best,” she says of her teammates.

Though it’s been a day now since her team had a dramatic comeback win over Australia on Tuesday to score their first-ever Olympic medal, Maher says the victory has yet to sink in.

“Honestly, I’m still trying to figure out how it feels. It still doesn’t feel real. It was so exciting,” she says. “And I think as I was watching Spiff [Alex Sedrick] run down the field, I was like, 'No way, is this happening? Like, are we about to do this?' And it was just so crazy. What a fun ending for everybody. Exciting ending. So it feels, I don’t know when it’s gonna feel real, honestly.”

While the team’s win is sure to thrust women’s rugby even further into the spotlight, Maher has already done a good job of that herself thanks to her large following.

“It’s so cool to see eyes on our sport,” she says. “I think people just, if they can just watch our sport for even a little bit, they’ll see how exciting and how fun it is and it'll really hook them.”

As for what’s next now that she’s secured a win, Maher “just want[s] a classic steak frites, man,” she says.

“Get me that, with a little sauce on there, on a terrace with a glass of wine.”

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