"I did 19 seasons in a row": Dancing With The Stars pro dancer Mark Ballas reflects on his DWTS journey

Dancing With The Stars pro dancer Mark Ballas appeared on the Call Her Daddy podcast on November 27, 2025, along with Whitney Leavitt. The two were paired together on the recently concluded season of the dance reality show.

While on the podcast, Mark recalled his previous season, how he decided not to come back, and then later, his return to DWTS.

Mark recalled the pandemic and that everyone was on a break. At the time, he went on trying a variety of things, including going to theater college, Broadway, and more. As he recalled his time on Dancing With The Stars, the pro dancer also opened up about various injuries he had gone through.

"Obviously, there was a global pandemic. So everyone was taking a break. I had also...you know, I went to musical theater college. I was on Broadway. I was in a couple of other shows. My wife and I were trying to start a family. And there's just like other things at play....I did 19 seasons in a row. That's a lot. And I...over that time, I had taken on some injuries, knees, back, neck, wrists, like all of it. And I'm 40 next year, you know," shared Mark.

Dancing With The Stars: Whitney Leavitt's pro dance partner, Mark Ballas, opens up about his time on DWTS, previous season, injuries, and more

The host asked Whitney whether she had a certain pro dancer in mind going into Dancing With The Stars. But, at the time, Mark was not one of the pro dancers on the show. So, Whitney recalled:

"I mean, I didn't even know that Mark was coming back."

Listening to that, Mark opened up about his return to the dance reality show. He noted that he was paired with Charli D'Amelio in the previous season. After that, there was a global pandemic.

During that time, Mark went to musical theater college, Broadway, and he and his wife were also trying to start a family. He also suffered from multiple injuries from his previous seasons.

"I'm going to turn 40 next year. So, when I found.....Conrad Green, who was our producer at the moment. He called me for season 31 and asked, Would you ever be interested?"

He added:

"And then, you know, I was like, why not? Like, why not? So, we ended up doing season 31. I didn't have enough time to get into shape for it. I ended... my partner ended up being Charli D'Amelio. Had no idea going into that. We had a wonderful season together."

However, Dancing With The Stars' Mark added that he went through Epsom salt baths for his injuries. He also noted how he had lower back pain for a while. He also revealed his wife had a miscarriage while he already had his injuries. That was the situation where Mark emotionally decided not to participate in DWTS.

Later, after his wife delivered a baby boy, he decided to get back in shape. He worked hard and got into shape with PT. After he was paired with Whitney, Mark noted that he was excited. He mentioned that he was happy to be back on the show with fellow pro dancers.

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To know more about the latest Dancing With The Stars holiday special episode, fans can stream all the performances on Hulu and Disney+.

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