{"id":3624,"date":"2026-07-14T23:37:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T23:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=3624"},"modified":"2026-07-14T23:37:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T23:37:01","slug":"after-nearly-two-decades-on-dancing-with-the-stars-mark-ballas-earns-his-seat-at-the-table","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=3624","title":{"rendered":"After Nearly Two Decades on \u2018Dancing With the Stars,\u2019 Mark Ballas Earns His Seat at the Table"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nMark Ballas is not a gatekeeper. That\u2019s why, just in the last year, he\u2019s lent his talents to two Emmy-nominated television shows and uplifted Chicago<\/em> to new box office heights.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more TV Ratings: World Cup Quarterfinals Smash Previous U.S. Highs<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tAnd now, he\u2019s claiming his spot on the judging panel of the mint Dancing With the Stars<\/em> spinoff The Next Pro<\/em>, which will find the main show\u2019s next professional dancer to join the season 35 cast this fall.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI like to serve. I like to help,\u201d Ballas tells The Hollywood Reporter<\/em> at the Next Pro<\/em> premiere watch party in Hollywood Monday night. \u201cI like to give advice where I can if people want it. I\u2019m not a gatekeeper.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBallas has been a part of the Dancing With the Stars <\/em>family since 2007, when he joined the cast as a pro dancer for season five. Since then, he has remained a fixture of the franchise, earning an Emmy nomination in 2011 and winning three Mirrorball Trophies. He is the second-most winning pro from the show, second only to main Dancing <\/em>judge Derek Hough and tied with Val Chemerinsky.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tTo be blunt, Ballas more than has the prerequisites needed of him to judge Next Pro<\/em> (notably alongside his mother, ballroom dance world legend Shirley Ballas). He hopes his extensive experience with Dancing<\/em>, having just come out of a fruitful 34th season when the spinoff was filmed, lends itself to the aspiring pros.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhat is fun for the contestants, I hope, is that they have a pro on the panel that\u2019s active, that\u2019s staying. All our rotating pros [that serve as guest judges] are current [Dancing<\/em> pros] too, but I\u2019m the anchor of active pros,\u201d he says. \u201cSo I\u2019m coming at it from a place like, hey, I\u2019m still out there with you. I get it. I just did last season, and I\u2019ve done this 21 times, so my feedback is always from a place of love.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBallas says his history with the show is exactly what he would hope for in a judge if the roles were reversed.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIf I was competing, I would wanna hear from someone that\u2019s done it over and over again, so I can pick up any tidbits,\u201d he says. \u201cBecause even after 21 seasons, I\u2019m still learning. But every situation you get into, it\u2019s not one glove fits all; you have to be adaptable.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd that\u2019s exactly what the Ballas\u2019 and the weekly guest judges are looking for in Next Pro<\/em> contestants: adaptability. \u201cYou can dance? Great. You can choreograph? Great. You can look great, you can have the personality, but can you be adaptable? That\u2019s the secret sauce.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Next Pro<\/em> premiered on Monday night, but the show itself was filmed during a rather busy period for Ballas. He shot season four of The Traitors<\/em> in May-June of 2025; partook in season 34 of Dancing<\/em> alongside Whitney Leavitt from September through November; took a brief period off for the holidays; shot the Next Pro<\/em> in March 2026; and joined Leavitt on Broadway for Chicago<\/em> in April.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Paramount Taps Almost Friday\u2019s Tyler Falbo for R-Rated Comedy \u2018Boys for Life\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tAnd on Tuesday, he flew back to New York to prepare for his return to Chicago<\/em>. It\u2019s been fun, he says, but it\u2019s also been a lot.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s been fun. It\u2019s been a lot. I\u2019m very grateful and blessed. Traitors<\/em> is one of my favorite shows and obviously Dancing<\/em> is one of my favorite shows,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd be a part of Next Pro<\/em>, something to help young talent; you know, that\u2019s where I\u2019m at\u2026 I\u2019m always happy to share how this works, so very honored that they chose me [to judge Next Pro<\/em>].\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe winner of Next Pro<\/em> has already been decided, showrunner Conrad Green confirmed this April, which means the winner will immediately join the recurring Dancing<\/em> cast, kicking off their first season as a pro this fall. When it comes to taking on the live show and teaching a celebrity the mechanics of ballroom dance, Ballas urges the winner to be open-minded and flexible, while remembering to put their partner first.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cTake in every bit of advice you can from those around you, and remember that even though you\u2019re a massive part of the journey, the secret sauce is that you are serving your celebrity,\u201d Ballas says. \u201cIt\u2019s their journey. Of course it\u2019s your journey as a team, but I feel like the most successful pros understand that it\u2019s for them, and at the end of the day, the [celebrities] gotta look good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs a permanent judge of the Dancing<\/em> spinoff, Ballas confirms this does not deter him from appearing on season 35 as a pro dancer, and that he\u2019s \u201copen\u201d to another return.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI think they\u2019re two different contexts. I mean, I\u2019m definitely open. As you know, we\u2019re still finalizing casts and making announcements,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYeah, I\u2019m open. We\u2019ll see, you know. We\u2019ll see,\u201d Ballas adds. \u201cI\u2019ll wait to see what our amazing casting director [Deena Katz] decides to do, but she knows where to find me. She\u2019s the best for a reason.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nDancing With the Stars: The Next Pro airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC, with episodes available to stream Tuesdays on Disney+ and Hulu.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Kit Connor and Joe Locke Lead the Cast of \u2018Heartstopper Forever\u2019 at Feel-Good World Premiere<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mark Ballas chats with THR about judging Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro, his busy year on Traitors, Chicago and if he\u2019d join season 35 as a pro.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3623,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[342,153,1215,2583,1680,2584,2585,359,1029],"class_list":["post-3624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-abc","tag-broadway","tag-chicago","tag-dance","tag-dancing-with-the-stars","tag-dancing-with-the-stars-the-next-pro","tag-mark-ballas","tag-reality-tv","tag-the-traitors"],"yoast_head":"\nAfter Nearly Two Decades on \u2018Dancing With the Stars,\u2019 Mark Ballas Earns His Seat at the Table - US Property Moves<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=3624\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"After Nearly Two Decades on \u2018Dancing With the Stars,\u2019 Mark Ballas Earns His Seat at the Table - 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