Mark Alexander Ballas Jr. (born May 24, 1986)[1] is an American dancer, choreographer, singer-songwriter, musician, and actor.
From 2007 to 2022, Ballas was a professional dancer on the ABC dance competition program Dancing with the Stars, winning the series three times. For his work on the show, he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography in 2011. Ballas released his first solo CD HurtLoveBox in March 2011.
Personal life
Ballas was born in Houston, Texas,[1] the son of dancers Corky Ballas[2][3] and Shirley Ballas (née Rich).[4] His paternal grandparents are of Greek heritage, and his mother is from the United Kingdom and is of predominantly English heritage.[5] His mother also has distant Irish ancestry .[6] His paternal grandfather, George Ballas, was the inventor of the Weed Eater lawn-trimming device. His paternal great-grandparents, Karolos ("Charles") Ballas and Maria Lymnaos were immigrants to the United States from Greece.[7]
Ballas is a member of singer-songwriter duo Alexander Jean[8] along with his wife, BC Jean. The two became engaged in November 2015 after three years of dating,[9] and were married on November 25, 2016, in Malibu, California.[10][11] Their son was born on November 5, 2023.[12]
Career
Early life
Ballas attended Rosemead Preparatory School in South London. At the age of 11, he earned a full-time slot at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London, as well as earning a full scholarship. In 2005, he was awarded "Performer of the Year". He then moved on to win championships at The British Open to the World, The US Open to the World, and The International Open to the World. With his former partner Julianne Hough, he won the Junior Latin American Dance Championship and the gold medal at the Junior Olympics.[citation needed]
On September 6, 2016, it was announced that Ballas would be the final actor to portray the role of Frankie Valli in the Broadway cast of Jersey Boys before it closes in 2017. On May 26, 2018, it was announced that he would play the role of the Teen Angel in the 2018 Toronto revival of Grease in a limited engagement from June 7–10.[14][non-primary source needed] From September 11, 2018, to November 18, 2018, Ballas portrayed Charlie Price in the musical Kinky Boots on Broadway. In July 2022, he appeared as Harry in the Hollywood Bowl production of the same show.[15][16]
Dancing with the Stars
On the fifth season of Dancing with the Stars, Ballas was partnered with Cheetah Girls star Sabrina Bryan. On October 30, 2007, the pair was voted off the show. They have been the only couple invited back for an exhibition dance.
On August 25, 2008, ABC announced the cast of the seventh season of Dancing with the Stars, with Ballas paired with reality television star Kim Kardashian. They were the third couple eliminated, finishing in eleventh place, on September 30, 2008.
For season 10, Ballas was partnered with actress Shannen Doherty.[17] They were the first couple eliminated, on March 30, 2010. Despite that, Shannen & Mark hold a higher average than a few celebrities who lasted longer than they did.
For season 11, Ballas was partnered with Bristol Palin, daughter of former Alaska governor and U.S. Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. They made it to the finale and finished in third place.
For season 13, Ballas was partnered with reality star Kristin Cavallari where they were the 3rd couple eliminated finishing in 10th place. In spite of this, they retained a higher average than a few couples that easily outlasted them, including Nancy Grace & Tristan MacManus, the quarter-finalists of the season.
For season 15, he returned with season 11 partner, Bristol Palin before being eliminated in week 4. In week 7, he danced with his former partner Shawn Johnson because her partner, Derek Hough suffered a neck injury.
He was paired with two-time Olympic champion Aly Raisman for season 16. Since season 16 had four couples reach the finals for the first time, Aly and Mark were able to become finalists. On May 21, however, they were eliminated at the beginning of the show landing them in fourth place.
For season 17, he was paired with singer Christina Milian. They were the 4th couple eliminated despite receiving high scores and good comments from the judges.
For season 20, he was paired with star of The Hunger Games film series Willow Shields. The couple was shockingly eliminated in week 7, finishing in seventh place despite receiving high scores throughout the season.
For season 21, he was partnered with actress Alexa PenaVega. They were eliminated in week 9 (despite being at the top of the leaderboard that week) and finished the competition in 6th place.
For season 22, he was paired with UFC mixed martial artist Paige VanZant. Ballas and VanZant made it to the finals of the show and finished in second place. Ballas was not part of the season 23 & 24 cast.[18]
Ballas returned as a professional dancer for season 25, and was paired with violinist Lindsey Stirling. Ballas and Stirling made it to the finals and finished in second place.
Ballas returned to the show for season 31. He was partnered with social media personality and dancer Charli D'Amelio.[19] They won the competition, making this Ballas' third win on the show and his first win since Season 8.
In his time on Dancing With the Stars, Ballas has set, and broken, numerous records in the course of his 20 seasons. Some of these records include, but are not limited to:
Alexander Jean is a duo formation made up of Mark Ballas and his wife BC Jean. They worked as a husband-wife American pop rock duo starting 2015. Their debut single was "Roses and Violets". The single reach the Top 20 on Billboard's Hot 100 "Bubbling Under" chart. They had success with "Waiting for You" and were nominated Elvis Duran's Artist of the Month in November 2018.
1Score from guest judge Robin Roberts 2For this week only, as part of the "Partner Switch-Up", Cameron Bure did not perform with Mark Ballas and instead performed with Tony Dovolani. 3Score from guest judge Julianne Hough. 4Score from guest judge Donny Osmond. 5Score from guest judge Redfoo. 6Scores from guest judge Ricky Martin. 7Score from guest judge Abby Lee Miller. 8Score from guest judge Kenny Ortega
1 Score given by guest judge Kevin Hart in place of Goodman. 2The American public scored the dance in place of Goodman with the averaged score being counted alongside the three other judges. 3This week only, for "Partner Switch-Up" week, Robertson performed with Derek Hough instead of Ballas. Ballas performed with Bethany Mota. 4Score given by guest judge Jessie J in place of Goodman. 5Score given by guest judge Pitbull in place of Goodman.
1 For this week, VanZant performed with troupe member Alan Bersten due to Ballas suffering a back injury during rehearsals. 2 Score given by guest judge Zendaya. 3 For this week only, as part of "America's Switch Up", VanZant performed with Sasha Farber instead of Ballas. Ballas performed with Ginger Zee. 4 Score given by guest judge Maksim Chmerkovskiy. 5 Due to Inaba being the judge coaching VanZant's team during the team-up dance, the viewers scored the dance in her place with the averaged score being counted alongside the remaining judges.
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