Ilona Maher broke down in tears after she “screwed up” Dancing with the Stars and many desperate fans came to her aid on social media.

On Tuesday, the 28-year-old rugby player was left with tears after she “made mistakes” during her jive routine at the competition show's Hair Metal night.

While she and her dance partner Alan Bersten performed a jive routine to the song “Cum On Feel the Noize” by Quiet Riot, judge Carrie Ann Inaba said she noticed Maher was off the tempo at one point, but noted that it It was “difficult” to recover from it.

Although the judges deducted points from her score, they supported Maher and even praised her for being “emotional” because it meant she was so “invested.”

Many heartbroken fans responded to Ilona's emotional appearance on TV with messages of support on “We love you girl (red heart emoji)”

Meanwhile, Bersten comforted her and hugged her while reassuring her and telling her that her performance was “amazing.”

In addition to Inaba, judges Bruno Tonioli and Derek Hough also shared the same criticism, but were also sympathetic towards Maher.

Of her performance, Tonioli said: “I love the wild and the wonderful and I love embracing it.” But I'm sorry, my darling, you've made a mistake so many times.

“I appreciate that, but this is really a dance competition,” he continued. “Everyone needs to be treated equally, and if you make mistakes, points are deducted.” It doesn’t take away from what you’ve done. “The setting was perfect.”

The Olympic champion nodded, but tears came to her eyes.

When Inaba checked on her, Maher jokingly replied that she was “feeling better.”

“I saw you tear up a little,” Inaba said. “And I just want to say, as a woman, I like that because you're so emotional. 'You're so invested.'

Inaba continued to reassure Maher, “That's why everyone supports you. That's why we love watching you.”

The judge said it could be “hard” to get spanked again and told her: “You're great!”

Hough also consoled Maher by drawing comparisons to her medal-winning athletic career.

“You are a competitor,” he said. “If something goes wrong on the field, you kind of regroup and come back next week and then you’re strong.”

He reassured her and added, “Just take this as a moment to say, 'Hey, I had some free time.'

He continued: “I have no doubt that you will come back and be fantastic.”

When Maher and Bersten then talked to Julianne Hough, she confessed why she burst into tears.

“That was a really hard dance for me, and it's been really hard all week,” she told the professional dancer.

“And you do so well in the dress rehearsal, and then you come out and screw it up. So it's really hard.”

Maher said her partner was “so good” and because of that she felt like she had let him down.

The athlete said Bersten “knows I'm good at it, and then I just don't do it.”

Then, in a heartwarming moment, Bersten hugged her and assured her that she was “wonderful,” to which Julianne agreed and hugged Maher too.

The pair ended up with a score of 26 out of 40 and survived double elimination.

“Dancing with the Stars” airs Tuesdays on ABC and Disney+. Episodes will be available to stream the next day on Hulu.