Mark Ballas News

Mark Ballas is partners with Melissa Joan Hart on the new season of Dancing with the Stars.

The pairing makes the professional think back to his younger days, when he totally crushed on the young actress.

“I said to my mom, my dad, ‘Don’t talk to me, I’m watching Clarissa,” Ballas said of his daily schedule, which was planned around Hart's TV shows. “I was little, I was 12, 13, and I was like, ‘She’s really cute.’”

How does he feel about Hart now? Ballas is certainly digging the duo's season nine prospects.

“It’s having the will to want to learn and she definitely has that,” he told People. “And she’s improved so much since we started. She said it’s been a dream of hers to be a dancer, and that is a dream that’s coming true.”

Melissa Joan Hart and Mark Ballas are ready to dance!

The season nine tandem will be paired together on Dancing with the Stars. Earlier today, the first shot of them in costume appeared on Twitter:

Less than one percent separated her from fellow finalist Gilles Marini, but any margin of victory would have been acceptable for Shawn Johnson.

The medal-winning Olympian captured this season's Dancing with the Stars title last night.

“This means the world to me,” an elated Johnson said after taking possession of the show’s mirror-ball trophy. “We worked so hard just to make it to the finals. This is the best.”

Earlier in the evening, all three finalists performed a final routine for the judges, and all three received perfect scores for their efforts. Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani were then voted off, leaving that tandem in the third place.

"This has been, without a doubt the best season ever," said judge Len Goodman. "We've got the three best dancers here in the final."

As for Johnson's victory, Marini was nothing but a great sport., saying:

"I'm so happy for Shawn and Mark. They worked so hard."

Click on the photos above to relive Shawn Johnson's Dancing with the Stars journey!

Male viewership for season nine of Dancing with the Stars will likely suffer, as Julianne Hough has announced she won't be participating in it.

Now, the female demographic is taking a big hit, as a pair of professional stud muffins aren't sure about their status for next season, either.

Earlier this week, Derek Hough told E! News that he and Mark Ballas might take a break from dancing in order to focus on music.

"Mark and I might not be back, either," Derek said. "We have other things going on."

Might The Ballas Hough Band take two pros away from Dancing with the Stars?

The Ballas Hough Band, which features the pair, released its debut album, BHB, in March and "there’s a bunch of stuff on the table right now," Hough added, "We're going on tour this summer."

While Hough wouldn't give a final answer regarding his season nine status, he simple said:

"We've got to see what happens... it would be crazy, all three of us... leaving at the same time."

The world's two biggest reality shows have come together... in bed!

Dancing with the Stars professional Mark Ballas and former American Idol contestant Joanna Pacitti have gone public with their relationship.

“We both love music, we both love art, we both love dance,” said Ballas of the woman he's reportedly been dating for eight months. “That’s what we’re all about so we are always there for each other.”

Added Pacitti, talking to People Magazine:

I think we have the perfect situation. We both get each other and understand schedules and even on a musical level, I’ve never met someone that’s so passionate about music…that’s what I live for so it’s amazing to be with someone who gets it.”

The Dancing with the Stars tour just got a lot less handsome.

Professional Mark Ballas suffered a groin injury over the weekend and will have to sit out “a couple of weeks” to heal, the fan favoriate announced on Saturday night in Los Angeles.

Ballas, who won season six of Dancing with the Stars alongside Olympic champion Kristi Yamaguchi, is on tour a handful of fellow pros and celebrities.

He apologized to the Staples Center crowd for the injury, though he still managed a spirited performance with Yamaguchi as well as an energetic hip-hop routine with Lacey Schwimmer and Derek Hough.

A couple that shops together performs the Samba well together.

So Kim Kardashian and Mark Ballas must be hoping, as they were spotted shopping together over the weekend.

Wait, which team is Mark Ballas on again?

We're just over two weeks away from the seventh season premiere of Dancing with the Stars!

With that in mind, here's our first of a few looks at various celebrities and their partners.

How far do you think Kim Kardashian and Mark Ballas will go on the competition?

Mark Ballas and Derek Hough partied the night away with friends in Las Vegas Friday night, the former celebrating his 22nd birthday - and Dancing with the Stars title this season - while the latter was honored for turning 23 on May 17.

"I was just there to guide her along this fantastic journey and what an adventure it's been," Ballas said about his run to the title with partner Kristi Yamaguchi. "She definitely deserved to win."

Hough gave his friend more credit, saying Ballas "110 percent deserved to win it. He worked harder than anyone."

Mark Ballas and Derek Hough: Good dancers, great friends.

Derek, of course, has been working hard at keeping his relationship with Shannon Elizabeth a secret; suffice it to say, however, the cute dancer has failed in this regard.

While the two haven't acknowledged a relationship, they were spotted sneaking a few smooches at a dinner earlier in the evening.

While the rumor that one Dancing with the Stars couple broke up was false - indeed, Karina Smirnoff and Mario Lopez are still going strong - the following report has been confirmed:

Pro dancer Mark Ballas and Cheetah Girl Sabrina Bryan have split.

"She is too busy for me," Ballas said, a bit bitterly it sounds like. "We are just friends now."

The pair met in November 2007 when they were partnered together on season five of Dancing With the Stars.

"We've gotten so close, and I guess the friendship started from the moment we met," Bryan said last year. "Now that the show is over, we definitely couldn't stand the thought of not being in each other's lives at this point."

That may still be the case - but merely as friends from now on. Sorry, Mark.