Dancing with the Stars fans were thrilled to see a familiar face returning for Season 34. Fan-favorite pro Mark Ballas is back, baby! Mark announced his DWTS retirement following Season 31. He took home the Mirrorball that season with Charli D’Amelio. For Season 34 of DWTS, he is partnered with The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Whitney Leavitt.
Fans were shocked when Mark announced his retirement during the final stop on the DWTS tour in 2023. “So, I just wanna finish by saying this will be the last time you see me dance in this capacity,” Mark told the crowd at the time.
Whitney Leavitt is excited to partner up with Mark Ballas on Dancing with the Stars
Recently, Whitney revealed her reaction to finding out that she would be dancing with Mark. “Well, one, I had heard rumors that Mark was gonna come back. So when you first walk in that door, you kind of envision like who it might be,” Whitney told PEOPLE. “So when I saw that it was Mark, like jaw wide open. In my mind, I was like, play it cool, play it cool, play it cool. But internally, I was like freaking out,” she added.
Mark is also excited about this partnership. “And that’s always the best, like when someone is excited to have you as a partner,” he stated. “So we hit it off pretty quickly – we’ve had a lot of laughs.” Mark added, “We’ve put in a lot of work already, such a long way to go, like Derek [Hough] said earlier, this is a marathon.”
Whitney is also excited that Jen Affleck, her co-star from The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, is in DWTS. “She just had a baby. I just had a baby, like there’s just so much to relate with one another. So it’s really nice to have a familiar face around,” Whitney explained.
Dancing with the Stars Season 34 will premiere on Tuesday, September 16, at 8 p.m. on ABC and Disney+. It will stream on Hulu the next day.
TELL US – ARE YOU EXCITED THAT MARK IS BACK ON DWTS? WILL MARK AND WHITNEY WIN SEASON 34?
