Mark Ballas is officially returning for Dancing With the Stars Season 35. Though many are excited to see him return to the ballroom once again, how fair is it for him to return as a professional dancer after judging DWTS: The Next Pro?
Should Mark Ballas Have Been Cast as a Pro For Dancing With the Stars?
Mark Ballas is officially fresh off of his judging gig on DWTS: The Next Pro, and set to return to the Dancing With the Stars main stage. In case you missed it, he is paired with Traitors star Maura Higgins for this season of the competition.
Having just served as a judge alongside his mother, Shirley Ballas, it’s now being questioned whether him returning to the series as a professional dancer is appropriate. For some context, Mark Ballas has been a professional dancer on Dancing With the Stars since 2007. He originally joined the series in Season 5 and competed consecutively until season 22. He then returned for Seasons 25, 31, 34, and now 35.
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At one point, there was even a rumor that Ballas would be considered as a replacement for Len Goodman on the main show’s judging panel. Instead, Ballas has returned as a professional dancer for the past two seasons. He has also recently been a guest judge on the main show during Season 33. In a podcast interview, Ballas admitted he took the guest judging position “very seriously.”
Ballas Has Only Been a Guest Judge on DWTS
While there could be power dynamic issues within the cast since Ballas judged Adele Zaikman’s season of DWTS: The Next Pro, it’s not entirely inappropriate for his return as a professional dancer. If Ballas had sat on the main show judging panel for an entire season, the consensus would have been different.
It would be extremely inappropriate for someone like Derek Hough to return to the series as a professional dancer, since he’s been apart of the judging panel since 2020. It even could be argued that Julianne Hough should be unable to compete again as a professional dancer since she was on the judging panel from 2014 to 2017.
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Since DWTS: The Next Pro was a much smaller competition, and only one contestant from that series will be in the ballroom this season, it makes sense for Ballas to return as a professional dancer. What do you think of this debate? Let us know on X!
