Mark Ballas Biography

Fast Facts

• Parents, Corky and Shirley Ballas, were international Dancesport champions in England during the 1990s
• Moved to London, England, as a child
• Became British Juvenile Ballroom and Latin American Dance champion when he was 10 years old
• Paired with Dancing with the Stars cast mate Julianne Hough in 2003 for the Junior Olympics, at which they were both awarded gold medals
• With best friend and DWTS cast mate Derek Hough, formed a pop-rock group called the Ballas Hough Band
• Played lead character of Tony in the Barry Manilow-helmed musical Copacabana, and was the lead dancer in the UK's National Tour of the Spanish musical Maria de Buenos Aires
• Joined DWTS in the fall of 2007; won Season 6 with partner Kristi Yamaguchi and Season 8 with Shawn Johnson
• Founded the Ballas Foundation in 2010, an organization that promotes suicide prevention programs throughout the U
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