Mark Ballas spent 21 seasons chasing the Mirror Ball trophy on DANCING WITH THE STARS, winning it three times before he retired from the ballroom in 2023.
“It’s tough love,” Ballas told Parade of his mother and new fellow judge, Shirley Ballas, on the ABC spinoff DANCING WITH THE STARS: THE NEXT PRO. “Don’t get me wrong, she’s very direct. But that’s what makes it work. If you want to succeed, sometimes we need that tough love.”
DANCING WITH THE STARS: THE NEXT PRO premiered Monday, July 13, on ABC and Hulu, hosted by Season 34 champion Robert Irwin and filmed in Irwin’s native Australia. Twelve professional dancers are competing all summer for a single spot on Season 35 this fall, with Ballas and his mother judging every episode alongside a rotating guest, including fellow DANCING WITH THE STARS veteran Derek Hough on the premiere.
The pairing marks something new for the franchise: a mother and son sizing up dancers from the same table. Shirley, nicknamed the “Queen of Latin” during her competitive years in England, took over as head judge on the British counterpart, STRICTLY COME DANCING, in 2017, following the retirement of longtime judge Len Goodman.
Related: DWTS Favorite Robert Irwin Reveals His ‘True Passion’
Before she accepted that offer, Shirley called her son, unsure whether judging suited her.
“I was like, ‘Mom, you are meant for this. It’s you. You’re the girl,’” Ballas recalled to Parade. “Just be you. Just go for it. Talk about the thing you love, which is dancing.”
Dance runs deep in the Ballas family. Shirley and her husband, Corky Ballas, met in the ballroom scene and married in 1985, collecting British and US Latin titles before turning to teaching, training future DANCING WITH THE STARS pros including Hough and his sister Julianne Hough, along with their own son. Corky even competed on the show himself in Season 7, partnered with Cloris Leachman, the same season Mark danced with Kim Kardashian.
Movieguide® has followed the Ballas family’s DANCING WITH THE STARS story for years, from Mark’s 2023 retirement announcement, when he thanked his mother, father and wife from the stage, to reports this past February that he and Shirley were already in talks to judge THE NEXT PRO together. Irwin, meanwhile, has become something of a Movieguide® favorite in his own right, celebrated for carrying on his father Steve Irwin’s legacy of wildlife conservation on and off the dance floor.
For families accustomed to talk of honoring father and mother, there’s something to notice in watching a son learn to critique — and occasionally be corrected by — his own mom on national television. Tough love, as Ballas describes it, isn’t cruelty. It’s the honesty of someone who already put in the work and wants the same for you, which is a decent lesson no matter who takes home the Mirror Ball this fall.
Read Next: Everything We Know About DANCING WITH THE STARS: THE NEXT PRO
Questions or comments? Please write to us here.
