Make approach for Mark Ballas! The professional dancer returned to the Dancing With the Stars ballroom for season 31 after a five-year break — and he couldn’t be extra excited.
“It felt great,” Ballas, 36, advised Us Weekly and different reporters after the Monday, September 19, season premiere, throughout which he and companion Charli D’Amelio achieved the best rating of the evening. “It felt the same but new, fresh [and] nostalgic. … It was a good time. It felt really good tonight.”
The Texas native and the TikTok star, 18, carried out a cha-cha to “Savage (Major Lazer Remix)” by Megan Thee Stallion and have been successful with all the judges — together with Ballas’ shut pal Derek Hough. The twosome have a protracted historical past, even competing towards each other on DWTS all through the years earlier than Hough, 37, joined the judges panel throughout season 29.
“You know, Derek and I have been friends since we were 10,” the Emmy nominee gushed of his “bro” on Monday. “Like, we’ve lived together, we went to school together every day. Dude used to steal my clothes. Like, we’re friends, you know what I mean? Brothers even. So it was really cool to be out here and … it was funny seeing him on the judges table ’cause I haven’t been here since he’s done that.”
The Broadway vet made his DWTS debut on the fifth season in 2007 with Cheetah Girls star Sabrina Bryan, ending the season in seventh place. He competed for 18 extra seasons with companions together with Kim Kardashian, Candace Cameron Bure, Kristin Cavallari and Aly Raisman. Ballas took dwelling the mirrorball trophy twice — first with Kristi Yamaguchi on season 6 and with Shawn Johnson two seasons later — earlier than bidding the ballroom goodbye throughout season 25.
ABC introduced earlier this month that the “Roses and Violets” singer would return to the sequence for the primary time in 5 seasons — and it appears as if his hiatus left him feeling much more hungry to win. After their first efficiency of the season, Ballas couldn’t assist however rave over the D’Amelio Show star for giving her all.
“It’s great to be in the top spot. We weren’t anticipating that,” the choreographer advised Us. “The only thing we wanted to do was work super hard [and] maximize our rehearsal time and just do the best that we possibly could. And we had a good night tonight. So I’m proud of [Charli].”
The Connecticut native is competing towards her mom, Heidi D’Amelio, who hit the dance flooring with professional Artem Chigvintsev for a cha-cha on Monday evening. Following the season 31 premiere, Charli stated she “can’t wait to see” what Heidi and her companion have in retailer for the weeks to return.
“I’m really excited. We all talked a little bit during rehearsal, the four of us, [and] it was a great time,” the influencer added after the present. “I have the best partner that I could have asked for, and I’m really proud of what we did today. … I’m excited to see what everyone else does.”
Dancing With the Stars season 31 airs on Disney+ Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.
Source: www.usmagazine.com