“Dancing With the Stars” will welcome Mark Ballas back to the ballroom for its landmark 25th season. The longtime “DWTS” pro dancer, who took the past two seasons off from the show while he performed in the Broadway musical “Jersey Boys,” will make his highly-anticipated return to the ABC celebrity ballroom competition for its upcoming season which kicks off next month. Ballas, who first appeared on “DWTS” way back in Season 6, appeared live on ABC’s "Good Morning America" for the official “Dancing With the Stars” pro dancer announcement.
The full ‘DWTS’ pro dancer list
Mark Ballas will join returning pro dancers Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Peta Murgatroyd, Gleb Savchenko, Keo Motsepe, Sharna Burgess, Val Chmerkovskiy, Lindsay Arnold, Artem Chigvintsev, and Witney Carson in the “Dancing With the Stars” Ballroom, as well as reigning mirror ball champ Emma Slater. In addition, longtime “Dancing With the Stars” troupe member Alan Bersten will make his debut as a “DWTS” pro dancer this season. Noticeably missing from the pro dancer announcement is a fan favorite and six-time mirrorball winner Derek Hough. But don’t worry, a “surprise” pro dancer will be revealed on “GMA” on Sept. 6 when the entire celebrity cast is announced.
Why Mark Ballas decided to return to the ABC dancing competition
In an interview with People magazine, Mark Ballas explained why he decided to return to the ABC celebrity dance-off after a year-long hiatus. (In addition to his starring run on Broadway, Ballas married singer BC Jean during his time off from the show.) Ballas admitted that although performing on Broadway was a dream come true for him, there were aspects of the TV dancing competition that he missed, especially creating his own choreography.
Mark also revealed that he didn’t watch any of the first season he skipped because he wanted “a complete break,” but he did watch Season 24 of the show because he wanted to root on his close friend Emma Slater. Mark Ballas said he is now ready to give fans his best season of “Dancing with the Stars” yet.
Mark Ballas is a two-time “Dancing With the Stars” champion and a seven-time finalist on the show.
Mark took home the mirrorball trophy on the finale of “DWTS” season six with celebrity partner Kristi Yamaguchi and in season eight with Olympic gymnast with Shawn Johnson.
The 25th season of “Dancing With the Stars” premieres on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
