Mark Ballas Talks On Homosexual Stereotypes, Dancing With The Stars, And More
Heads up! Mark Ballas is a guest on HDNet’s “Naughty But Nice with Rob” this weekend. Rob and Mark talk about how some people assume dancers are “gay” which is not true. They talk about same sex couples dancing and how he’d love to do so. Mark also talks on his new partner saying he has no idea who it is (at the time of this interview) and how most likely it will be someone who is near the same height. Hmmm?? More in a take below and at Huffingtonpost.com. To see even more of this interview, be sure to tune into Rob’s show today and tomorrow. Check your local listings for times.
“There is one gay cast member,” Ballas tells me, admitting that he personally has never had to deal with any of the assumptions people make about male dancers. “Fortunately, I never had to deal with it. I went to a performing arts school and my whole philosophy, if someone said something to me, I would say, ‘Well, while you are on the football field with other dudes, I will be dancing with a lot of girls.’ But I think with dancing now, a lot of guys are getting into it. How can you not want to dance?”
Knowing about the whispers surrounding some of his fellow cast members’ sexuality, Ballas believes the amount of sports stars that have been contestants on the show has helped change assumptions about the personal lives of male dancers.
“Hines Ward is some dude that would kill you,” Ballas tells me on the set of my HDNet talk show. “They love it. It’s hard to do! Obviously there’s always frustrating moments, but it’s overcoming them together at the end of the day.”
Admitting he has no idea which celebrity he has been paired with for the upcoming season, Ballas does reveal one of the biggest factors that the producers consider – height.
So Mark says there is one gay cast member…Well he’s probably talking about Chaz but Chaz isn’t gay sooo. Idk.
Oh are you kidding me, Zach?? Louis Van Amstel has been openly gay for YEARS. I guess that says something about stereotypes, doesn’t it, that you weren’t aware of that. 🙂
It’s Louis, but there wasn’t really a reason for him to say who it is because it doesn’t really matter.
I was talking about the celebrity side, is that what Mark ment? It is right? I knew Louis was gay, Miss Heidi. Im not that in the dark you know. 🙂 Speaking of Louis I wish he was a pro this season, kinda…I like him sometimes, other times he bugs me but I really liked Niecy and him, same with Margaret they were funny…idk. 😛
I don’t think Mark knows who all the celebs are yet – pretty sure he’s talking about regular cast, ie Louis. This isn’t the first time he’s used this spiel. 🙂
Oh….K! 😀
Mark must block it out because I remember this one radio interview for when he and Derek were doing promotion for ‘Move’ and the male DJ was incredibly obnoxious and kept slipping in nasty comments about them being gay and being a couple. A female DJ tried to keep the interview on track, but the male DJ was quite horrible.. think Howard Stern-ish. The boys handled themselves extremely well and wouldn’t be baited into it.
I’m actually glad to see Mark speak out on this. I can’t tell you how many guys think I’m crazy for watching DWTS. Then they give me a weird look on how “into it” I am. Then, I hear stupid, downright ignorant comments like “Only gays watch DWTS” or some things similar to what Mark said. We may be in the minority, but there IS a straight male demographic that watches DWTS or competes in ballroom competitions, and I have no trouble saying I am among the straight men that watch this show. I used to be very defensive but now I just don’t give it second thought. It’s a ridiculous argument and I don’t have to waste my brain cells in thinking of how I’m going to defend the shows I watch.
Right on Nathan!!!!!
Mark is lucky that he hasn’t really had to deal with the downright IGNORANT stereotype that all male dancers = gay, because my boyfriend has been dealing with it for YEARS. He’s learned to let it roll off his back pretty well, but I still get very bothered and defensive about it, especially when someone asks what my boyfriend does for a living and then says “Oh, so he must be gay…what are you, like his beard or something? Hehehehehe!” It’s ignorant, it’s insulting, it’s discriminative, and it’s closed-minded – not only to my boyfriend, but to me. Kinda makes me feel like replying “Oh, so I’m his beard, huh? Thanks for letting me know that. Now I know I’m not attractive enough to actually be considered a legitimate girlfriend prospect and he only keeps me around to cover the stench of homosexuality, right?” It’s enough to make me wanna break some idiot’s nose. I think it stems more from jealousy than anything else, since male ballroom dancers, regardless of their sexuality, seem to be like catnip to the ladies, since so many men can’t dance for beans. Why do you think so many men’s biggest reason for taking up dancing is “to meet girls”? 🙂 Thankfully, since DWTS came on the scene, it’s becoming more socially acceptable to be a male dancer, and fewer people seem to automatically assume my boyfriend is gay. Hehe…in fact, a lot of guys now respond with “Awww, dude, he’s a dance teacher? He must get laid like crazy! Girls love that sh*t!” *sigh* I guess it’s the lesser of two evils 😛 Although now my favorite response to the “Your bf is gay!” spiel is “Wow, really? He could have fooled me last night.” 😉
Mark has blocked it out – remember TMZ used to have a go at them when BHB was playing the Grove every Tuesday night. I think after a while though, they dropped it because of how well Derek and Mark played off it. Derek would point and laugh every time he saw the TMZ boys and tell them they were funny. The best time was when he walked out of a restaurant with Shirley and saw the TMZ paps and said, “My boyfriend is back there” and motioned behind him to Mark, then laughed his ass off. Hilarious. That said, I do think that it doesn’t make that much of an impact on either of them anymore -but I also think that Mark was more sheltered from it than Derek was, since Derek was actually in public schools for years before Italia Conti. And he was getting kicked out of public schools for fighting too, as I recall.
Courtney,
“Awww, dude, he’s a dance teacher? He must get laid like crazy! ”
So, does he? Maybe I should become a teacher;-)
I’m actually a little surprised that a lot of people think he’s gay because he’s a ballroom dance teacher. I’ve never done a poll or anything, but I think the stereotype of male dancer = gay isn’t as strong in the ballroom world. Probably because they’re at least dancing with a woman. However, the same can’t be said in a lot of the other styles of dance like contemporary. It’s unfortunate and I agree that shows like DWTS and SYTYCD have helped to change that stigma to some extent.
I still always love people’s look when I say that I have websites about DWTS and SYTYCD. The usual response is, “really?” Although, it’s often followed by, “Do you watch the shows?” Maybe I should just carry around a picture of Edyta.
The most attractive ladies I’ve ever been with all became interested in me because I could dance.
It’s a well-kept secret, it seems, that being a good male dancer *does* in fact get you laid. While the other guys call you gay you get to take home the girls they wanted. It’s fun.
@Steve- And THAT is precisely the problem I have with male dancers. Guys like Mark and Maks who have egos the size of planets. “I’m a male dancer. I’m a male, and I can dance. Yes. It’s true. All women will fall at my feet.” Across my national dance community, it’s a known stage that leads go through when they reach a certain level of proficiency (mediocrity) — their dancewh*re phase, where they will hook up with any naive bimbo in the community. Eventually they either grow out of it, or run out of women. Personally, dancing isn’t a mating ritual, so I stick to dancing with newbies and the really good humble guys.
@BStar
Let me clarify. I should have written something like this:
“I’m not the most attractive guy in the world. I started dancing because I realized I had a talent for it and my parents thought it would be a good way for me to be more social. When I went to college, I realized that being able to dance made girls interested in me who I thought were way out of my league. I appreciate dance because it helped me have some great relationships with some wonderful, beautiful girls.”
In fact, I’m marrying one of them soon.
BrightStar, what you’re describing isn’t particular to straight male dancers – it’s a guy thing across the board. You could say the same thing about successful actors, successful musicians/singers, professional athletes, etc. True, all males aren’t like that, but in general straight males will use whatever advantage they have over other straight males to get girls, especially girls that they wouldn’t normally be able to attract. No need to single out Mark, Maks, Derek or any other straight male pro from DWTS – it’s a straight male disease, not a ballroom dance straight male disease.