PureDWTS Season 22, Week 3 – An Update on Mark Ballas

As we mentioned yesterday, Mark was seen around the rehearsal studio yesterday, which seems to indicate that he is still very much in the competition this season.  Now we have a bit more behind-the-scenes info to share…

…according to a source, Mark is still injured, and given the nature of the injury, it seems potentially serious (I’m guessing they’ll share his diagnosis in the package on Monday). Mark is currently trying to rest his back as a result. HOWEVER, Mark has every intention of dancing with Paige on Monday if he’s able, and is still very much Paige’s partner.  Alan & Hayley have both been assisting them during rehearsals for their paso doble, but Mark is running the show – his concept, his choreography.  From the impression I got – the situation is still very up-in-the-air, but Mark is determined to dance.

I think the captions on the Instagram picture of Paige & Alan he posted on Tuesday very clearly indicate that he intends to remain Paige’s partner this season:

So what do I make of this? Well I think all the Alan fans that seem to be creeping out of the woodwork, hoping that Mark will “give Alan a shot at being a pro” need to slow their roll quite a bit, because I don’t think Mark has any intention of giving Paige up without a fight – and rightfully so.  I remember Deep Throat telling me how absolutely THRILLED Mark was to get Paige as a partner this season – he’d been hoping she’d get a shot on the show for awhile, and I’d even go so far as to guess that she was probably one of his “dream partners”. And Paige has got a great work ethic and a lot of talent – talent that I think is best harnessed by a seasoned pro with two MBT’s and a lot of choreography experience under his belt, and NOT a completely green, un-battle-tested newb from the troupe. This is quite possibly the most competitive season we’ve ever seen, kids – and if Paige wants a fighting chance (no pun intended) of lasting this season, Mark is her best bet.  If anything, I think the rest of the pros this season would mop the floor with Alan, experience-wise, if he were suddenly to become Paige’s full-time partner – and the resulting failure could potentially torpedo any future shots at being a pro that he might have…think about it.  This is quite possibly the WORST season to come in as a rookie pro and try to prove yourself…so why would you want to subject him to that? So you can watch him gyrate around with his shirt open and a dopey grin on his face? 🙂

Anyway, I wish Mark the speediest and most painless of recoveries, and I’ve got my fingers crossed he gets to dance with Paige on Monday 😉

ETA: Vogue here. Paige was on KTLA today. She talked on Dancing With The Stars and the accident with Mark last week. She also gives a report on Mark and says he’s still trying to find out what’s wrong with him (like Court reported). Right now she’s rehearsing with both Alan and Mark and isn’t sure what will happen on Monday night. More below…