Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas spilled all of the juicy particulars about their time on Dancing With the Stars following their stunning elimination.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star, 32, and the skilled dancer, 39, appeared on the Wednesday, November 26, episode of Alex Cooper’s “Name Her Daddy” podcast. The duo additionally carried out the freestyle that they by no means acquired to point out on the ABC dance competitors, utilizing Broadway theatrics to deal with on-line hate and bullying.
“I feel that day, we type of had a intestine feeling to be sincere,” Ballas stated of getting eradicated throughout the semifinals on November 18, recalling how he had instructed Leavitt, “Let’s simply exit. Let’s let’s take pleasure in ourselves. Let’s have enjoyable. Go for it. Like, let your hair down. Get pleasure from this.”
Leavitt and Ballas have been frontrunners all through season 34 of Dancing With the Stars, so many followers have been shocked once they have been despatched residence. (5 {couples} superior to the Tuesday, November 25, finale: Robert Irwin and Witney Carson, Alix Earle and Val Chmerkovskiy, Jordan Chiles and Ezra Sosa, Elaine Hendrix and Alan Bersten, and Dylan Efron and Daniella Karagach. Irwin, 21, and Carson, 32, finally received the mirrorball trophy.)
Maintain scrolling to learn the most important revelations from Leavitt and Ballas’ podcast look:
Mark Ballas Recollects Giving Whitney Leavitt a Pep Speak Forward of Their Elimination
“My technique is all the time, ‘Do your f***ing finest,’” Ballas stated. “Come out swinging. Do one of the best you possibly can. As a result of the truth is, I’m gonna let you know proper now: This isn’t the primary time that somebody who’s a tremendous, unbelievable, dynamic performer has been eradicated early. It occurred to me in season 5 with Sabrina Bryan. However that is the primary time I really feel prefer it’s occurred with this new TikTok, Instagram hype.”
Throughout their final time performing collectively on the present, “I felt our dances have been strong,” Leavitt stated. “Like, that Viennese waltz that we did was one in every of my favourite dances that we’ve carried out. It simply felt off. It didn’t really feel like the opposite Tuesdays that we had had.”
Ballas defined, “I’m a over-rehearser. I prefer to rehearse to the purpose the place it’s simply so ingrained in your physique. I hate leaving issues to probability. Is likely to be old-school, however that’s how I used to be raised once I was dancing. It’s simply, you rehearse it, rehearse, rehearse it so that you don’t have to suppose. And in between our first dance and second one, we have been [backstage] working it via.”
He seen on the time that Leavitt was getting “emotional.” Because of this, “I type of had to enter football-coach mode, the place I used to be like, ‘You are able to do this!’”
Ballas “was beginning to get apprehensive that she’s going to go on the market and black out.”
Leavitt had an ominous feeling, “like this was our final dance, which in flip, made it a little bit extra emotional.”
Ballas and Leavitt Share Hateful Feedback That Affected Them the Most
Cooper, 31, reminded the pair that they’d acquired “one of many highest scores that evening,” with a 58 out of 60 for each of their performances. She requested for his or her tackle why they didn’t get the viewer votes to stay on the present.
“I don’t know,” Leavitt stated. “I imply, if I used to be speculating, I’d say, ‘Yeah, possibly ‘Secret Lives.’ As a result of it was such an enormous divide. Like, you both actually beloved me for that, otherwise you actually hated me for that. So, possibly it swayed some folks.”
Weighing in, Ballas stated, “Typically this s***t occurs … with such a stacked solid and actually nice expertise. Nice expertise, all-around.”
He then acknowledged the mean-spirited on-line dialogue focusing on them throughout their Dancing partnership.
“I feel with the depth of the present and the way huge it’s gotten — which I like a lot — all people’s been getting backlash on-line,” he stated. “It wasn’t simply us. Sure, ours was very intense, however when one thing’s this huge, I’m certain as you already know, there’s all the time going to be naysayers. There’s all the time going to be folks hating on you. I feel there was similar to a window of weeks the place it was simply, like, goddamn.”
When Cooper pressed them to share examples of fan criticism that particularly stung, Ballas responded, “It’s wild. OK. That is actually heavy. … You’ll be able to edit it out in case you not need, however like, that is one which I simply acquired like randomly. … That is after one in every of our dances: ‘Are you that low cost of a c*** to rot and do that? Rattling, you’re particular. You’re utterly nugatory. And I hope you f***ing burn in hell at some point.’ That’s simply one in every of them.”
Ballas added that the web trolling is “relentless like that, over a dance present.”
Leavitt, for her half, stated she’s “positively turn out to be a little bit bit extra desensitized to it. As a result of I’ve skilled it for years. However I feel, like, what was a little bit bit triggering was watching somebody expertise that for the primary time for one thing, for what? Like, it simply it made no sense to me. After which, I additionally at occasions felt prefer it was my fault as a result of I used to be like, ‘Oh, like possibly … it’s due to me, possibly it’s as a result of [Ballas is] partnered with me.’ So then, it felt like my fault. Like, it was similar to a curler coaster of feelings like throughout that point.”
Leavitt Says She Knew She’d Lose ‘Dancing With the Stars’
Cooper requested Leavitt to answer her detractors’ view that she’s “too opportunistic,” “conceited” and bold.
“Yeah. I imply, I’m gonna be sincere with you. I by no means thought I used to be successful Dancing with the Stars. I actually didn’t,” Leavitt bluntly declared.
Ballas agreed, saying, “We actually knew that.”
“We knew that from the start,” Leavitt stated, laughing. “However I needed that have. And I’d hope that anybody that had a dream or one thing that they need of their life or [to] expertise … would go after it.”
She famous: “That’s how I’ve all the time been. And it’s like, oh … that is one thing that I would like in my life. It is a dream that I’ve. I’m going to — whereas nonetheless having my morals and values — go after that.”
Leavitt stated, “If I used to be a person then, yeah, I feel it could have been positive. I feel they might have stated, ‘F*** yeah, you go after that.’”
Leavitt Reveals Her Standing With ‘Secret Lives’ Costar Jen Affleck
The mother of three spoke candidly about Affleck, 26, who was additionally a contestant on season 34. Cooper introduced up Affleck’s October elimination, when Leavitt was caught on digicam seemingly “smirking” after which protecting her mouth.
“I assumed I used to be getting eradicated each Tuesday,” Leavitt replied. “Each single Tuesday I used to be mentally getting ready myself. So in that second I felt two feelings: It was one the place it was like, ‘Oh my God, they didn’t name my identify, however oh my God, now my pal’s going residence. Two feelings in that second. I feel, you already know, it’s a aid, after which it’s like, Oh wait, however now any person goes residence and now could be leaving this expertise.”
Leavitt stated she doesn’t “bear in mind smiling, but when something it was aid.” She instructed Cooper that she felt “no pleasure in any respect” over Affleck departing the present, and that “it sucked” when Affleck subsequently instructed her TikTok followers that she wasn’t “rooting” for her.
“Jen understands what it’s like being within the public eye, being within the actuality area, getting the hate,” she stated. “She’s skilled it. … It didn’t really feel nice that she fed into that, that she determined to go on a Reside and say, ‘Yeah, I’m not going to vote for her.’ I imply, she may have simply stated who she was voting for. She didn’t have to say who she wasn’t voting for.”
In the mean time, she famous, “The connection’s not nice. I don’t actually even know if there may be one proper now. There was quite a bit that occurred whereas we have been doing Dancing with the Stars. We have been additionally filming Secret Life throughout the time. So, I do know the viewers goes to have the ability to see that story when that comes out subsequent 12 months.”
Ballas Responds to the Ticket Giveaway Controversy
In October, the dance professional and Leavitt introduced plans to ship two winners to the DWTS ballroom, then needed to retract the provide after being knowledgeable by ABC that that would not give away tickets to a dwell present.
“When this got here up, I promise you, it was tremendous harmless,” Ballas instructed Cooper. “It was so informal. We had talked to [our] groups about it. ‘Hey, we need to do a enjoyable giveaway.’”
He added, “We’ve given away tickets to followers numerous occasions. There was no, ‘show to us you’re voting for us.’ I feel Whitney articulated even within the video. ‘Even in case you’re not voting for us, that is an expertise for everybody.’ It’s simply meant to be a little bit of enjoyable. It was two tickets. When all of it acquired that backlash? Loopy. I used to be like, ‘You already know what, guys? Me and my spouse simply received’t vote for me and it’ll cancel itself out.’”
