Mark Ballas

‘Dancing with the Stars’ hottie Mark Ballas is a true triple threat. Not only has he captured the coveted mirror ball trophy twice with partners Kristi Yamagucchi and Shawn Johnson, he rocks out with ‘DWTS’ co-star and best friend Derek Hough in ‘Ballas Hough Band’ and has even branched out into acting! His personal life is just as hot as his career. He waltzed away with Cheetah Girl Sabrina Bryan’s heart and is currently dating former ‘American Idol’ contestant Joanna Pacitti. Get to know Mark Ballas, the Houston native whose parents inspired his passion!

Full Name: Mark Alexander Corky Ballas Jr.
Birthday: May 24th, 1986
Birthplace: Houston, Texas
Raised In: London, England
Favorite Singer: John Mayer
Favorite TV Show: ‘Family Guy’
Favorite Movie: ‘King Kong’
Favorite Book: ‘The DaVinci Code’

Biography
Mark was born on May 24th in Houston, Texas to professional dancers Corky and Shirley Ballas. When Mark was a toddler his family moved to London, England.

From an early age, Mark followed in his parents footsteps and began to dance. “When I was growing up, my parents were traveling a lot and doing a lot of competitions and they were really busy and competing everywhere and they weren’t the type of parents that were like ‘You’re gonna do this’.” says Mark. “I was watching it one day and I think we were at a function and there was other kids my age doing it as well and I’d never seen other kids doing it, only my parents and older people competing and I was like ‘Wow, other kids my age do this too!’ and she (Mark’s mom) was like ‘Yeah sweetie, lots of kids do this’ and I was like ‘Really? I thought this was the old person thing’ and then I said ‘I wanna try’ and that was it. I was about nine when I said that and I started when I was ten. I had done jazz and tap and ballet before, but I started ballroom dancing when I was ten.”

Mark enrolled in the Italia Conti Academy of Dramatic Arts, where he studied singing, dancing and acting.

Mark was one of the top students at the academy. He won many prestigious championships, including a gold medal at the AAU Junior Olympics. At age 11, Mark earned a full time spot at the school and a scholarship to college.

While at the school, Mark met fellow performers Derek and Julianne Hough. The three quickly became close friends. “Derek moved to London when he was eleven and I was ten and he lived with me and my parents trained him and Julianne. We’ve been roommates and brothers for twelve, thirteen years now. We’re close like brothers, we fight like brothers, we party like brothers, we have fun like brothers, so me and him go way back.”

Mark continued to dance, and in 2005 he was named ‘Performer of the Year’ by his college. Impressive, Mark!

‘Dancing with the Stars’
In 2007, Mark moved back to the US and landed the job of a lifetime. He became one of the professional dancers on the hit ABC show ‘Dancing with the Stars’! Even better? Mark’s childhood friends Derek and Julianne Hough would be competing with him on the show!

“The best part about being on the show is the fans. They love the show and it’s so great to see people finally connecting with ballroom dancing because before it was kind of an underground sport and people were like ‘Oh your a ballroom dancer’ and now it’s like, people recognize how hard it is. It’s great to know how many people there are out there that watch the show and enjoy it and appreciate the hard work that goes into it”

Mark is a two time ‘DWTS’ champion. He first won season six of ‘DWTS’ with figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi. Mark then proceeded to win season 8 of ‘DWTS’ with gymnast Shawn Johnson. Way to go Mark!

Mark’s Music
Besides having awesome moves on the dance floor, Mark has some serious musical talent! He began playing guitar at age four, then at age twelve, Mark began writing and performing songs. In 2005, Mark and childhood friend Derek Hough formed Ballas Hough Band. They released their debut album ‘BHB’ in March 2009 and are currently working on a second album.

Mark is also a solo singer. His EP ‘Waiting For Patience’ will be available on iTunes soon.

Where does Mark see himself in five years? “I see myself entertaining. I can’t see myself doing anything else with my life. That’s what I want to do, it’s kinda the only thing I can do is entertain people. Hopefully I’ll be singing and dancing somewhere and acting, maybe TV or film or something. I would definitely love to be singing and writing songs and connecting with people on a musical basis.”