Alexa PenaVega says Witney Carson and Mark Ballas “refused to be in the same room together” when she and her husband, Carlos, competed on Dancing With the Stars.
The actors joined Season 21 in 2015 as the first married couple to compete against each other on the ABC series. Alexa was paired with Ballas, while Carlos trained with Carson.
They revisited the experience during the October 22 episode of their LexLos podcast, discussing the demands of the competition and the personal tensions that accompanied it.
Entertainment Weekly, which reported their comments on October 23, said it had contacted representatives for both professional dancers.
The PenaVegas Had Hoped to Train in the Same Space
Both actors had previously been approached about appearing on the show individually. When the opportunity arose to join the same cast, Alexa recalled that her mother, an enthusiastic viewer, encouraged her to accept.
The couple expected to spend as much of their training time together as possible, even while competing against each other. Alexa said the separate rehearsals instead required them to work around whatever was happening between their partners. Neither spouse explained what had caused the disagreement.
Both nevertheless praised Ballas and Carson for respecting the boundaries they had established around performing suggestive choreography with someone other than their spouse.
Carlos Acknowledged That Jealousy Made the Competition Harder
The PenaVegas wanted their appearance to present marriage positively, challenging the idea that a spouse was a burden. Carlos acknowledged that his own competitiveness and jealousy complicated that goal.
He said watching Alexa rehearse intimate choreography with another man would have been even harder if he had not also been participating.
In the conversation, also covered by TV Insider, Alexa remembered advice from Alfonso Ribeiro, her chance of winning depended on her partnership with Ballas. She struggled with the suggestion that her husband could not remain her priority throughout the experience.
Reflecting on her elimination, Alexa told Carlos, “I left Mark in the dust over and over and over again.” Alexa and Ballas finished sixth. Carlos and Carson reached the finale and placed fourth.
Ballas Helped Plan Carson’s 21st Birthday in 2014
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Carson appeared in the video for Ballas’ song “Get My Name,” released in May 2014. Fellow DWTS professional Derek Hough directed the video, as Extra reported at the time.
That September, Ballas and Carson were photographed together at a release event for his Kicking Clouds EP at Crustacean in Beverly Hills.
In October 2014, Jenna Johnson shared a photograph from Carson’s 21st birthday celebration showing the two posing cheek to cheek. Her caption credited Ballas with planning the festivities and suggested he should organize birthdays professionally.
Both Pros Returned for Season 35
Ballas is partnered with The Traitors contestant Maura Higgins this season. The pair remained in the competition after the October 20 episode, which ended without an elimination. Carson competed with Guillermo Rodriguez of Jimmy Kimmel Live! Their run ended on October 13.
On Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro, Ballas served as a regular judge alongside his mother, Shirley Ballas. Carson appeared in the August 17 episode, which challenged the contestants to teach ballroom beginners, according to ABC.