Mark and Shirley Ballas Interviewed On DWTS Season 20 And Decisive Factor To Win: “Votes and talent or family connections?”
Mark and Shirley Ballas talked with Radar Online about Dancing With The Stars Season 20. Mark was disappointed he and Willow got eliminated too early. He thought Willow “got the short end of the stick”. I couldn’t agree more.
Votes and talent or family connections? Mark Ballas tells RadarOnline.com he’s not sure what was the decisive factor in Rumer Willis winning Dancing with the Stars.
When Ballas and Willow Shields were eliminated in the seventh week of Dancing With the Stars, fans were shocked, but no more than the professional dancer himself, he said.
“We just stared at each other. I was beside myself,” Mark told Radar in an exclusive interview while promoting the big “Smoke Out” day event in Times Square with his mother, Shirley Ballas. The mother-son duo have quit smoking together and dished on that feat, along with his crushing elimination on DWTS.
“I thought Willow got the short end of the stick,” Mark said. “It wasn’t fair.”
Fast-forward to a few weeks later and Willis and Val Chmerkovskiy took home the coveted Mirror Ball, with the help of her movie star parents, Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, along with a major push from their Hollywood friends.
“I guess when people vote they thought since we had such high scores from the judges that they thought ‘she’ll be alright,’” Mark surmised.
His mother concurred, and told Radar: “They networked. The whole family did their homework. It was great and amazing for them. And they got all their A-list friends to help. She definitely deserved it.”
Indeed, Ashton Kutcher and Gwyneth Paltrow both showed their support for Rumer, taking to their social media accounts to try and boost her numbers.
“People love the show, watch and root for people but they don’t vote,” Mark said about his experience being partnered with Shields.
“She should have been in the finals. She had the skills and the personality.”But there are no bad feelings he told Radar, and complimented Rumer, saying: “She was awesome.”
To read the full interview including how they are helping others to quit smoking, see Radar Online.
Let it be known that people don’t vote for who Mark is partnered with because they do not like him, his choreography, or his creativity. It is undeserved hate and I feel bad for Mark. Now he is doing this campaign to help people quit smoking and people are still hating on him. This has gone on a lot and it is not cool. I heard one comment from one person who said that he is not the best dancer or coreographer. I think that that is completely false. He is one of the best. These haters just need to get over their hatred for Mark Ballas and stop making these negative comments. He does not deserve to be hated for being creative. I really hope he wins next season…!!!…
:::rolls eyes::: Yeah, CH, Mark is the only pro who has haters. All the rest are universally loved and no one ever says a bad word about them.
Get real.
Good heavens, poor Mark. I never realized he was so universally loathed! 🙄 Thankfully, Mr. Ballas has a somewhat more rational and intelligent view of the world than his groupies, or he’d have opened a vein years ago and said “farewell, cruel world; you’ll miss me when I’m gone.” 😀
Where are you seeing all this?
It’s true… Mark gets so much hate for his creative personality as a choreographer. Why else do you think Willow was eliminated? It was not just because she didn’t have a big enough fan base. It’s also because viewers are just plain Mark Ballas haters. Rumer did deserve to win but I do have to say that there might be some people that did vote because of who her parents are. Mark was not making those comments in a negative way. He was just stating what may have been another factor. People are just making it seem like he’s bitter because Willow was eliminated in week 7….
Perhaps you’re exaggerating CH? Every pro has haters. I’ve personally never seen much hate directed at Mark at all, but then again I only frequent this site. His eccentric creativity may be polarizing, but Mark is still one of the most well-liked pros.
Mark is often subject to those shocking eliminations (always frustrates me). He has a very well-adjusted view though. Willow was definitely good enough for the finals. They could’ve had a killer freestyle and brought the wow factor that this season’s freestyles lacked IMO.