Dancing with the Stars’ new spinoff will feature the mother of one of the fans’ favorite pro dancers of all time. Plus, she’s a dance star in her own right!
Mark Ballas and his mom Shirley Ballas will be the judges of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro and are sure to be a dynamic mother-son duo. Mark, 40, won the original series three times with celebrity Olympian partners Kristi Yamaguchi and Shawn Johnson and TikTok star Charli D’Amelio. Since 2007, Mark, also an esteemed choreographer, has appeared on an incredible 20 seasons of DWTS, even as he took hiatuses.
As Parade has previously reported, the spinoff series, premiering July 13, will feature 12 up-and-coming professional dancers who will compete in a grueling audition process as they live in a house together. The winner will land a coveted spot as a pro dancer on the upcoming Season 35 of DWTS.
Here’s everything you need to know about Shirley Ballas, including her dance background and relationship with her son Mark.
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Who is Shirley Ballas?
Born in the coastal town of Wallasey, England Shirley, 65, is a professional dancer. She began dancing at the age of seven. According to The Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD), Shirley is three time British Open to the World Latin American Champion, 10-time US Latin American Champion, and multiple-times British National Champion. “I won every major championship by the age of 22” worldwide, she recalled. Shirley stopped competing in 1996 but went on to become one of the top Ballroom and Latin teachers and judges in the world.
Has Shirley Ballas been on TV before?
Yes, in her native Britain. Beginning in 2017, Ballas became famous across the pond when she replaced Len Goodman (also the respected DWTS judge, who passed away in 2023) as head judge of England’s Strictly Come Dancing. Shirley told the Guardian about her UK reality gig, “I think it’s got everything – it’s funny, it’s got glitz and glamour. You watch these people go through this emotional journey every single week and what you see is real. It’s not staged.” Shirley continues on Strictly and celebrated her ten-season show anniversary in 2025.
In January 2024, Shirley was eliminated and unmasked as the character “Rat” in The Masked Singer UK Season 5.
Also, viewers might remember Mark’s mom coaching and judging briefly on DWTS in the past.
Related: Mark Ballas’ Dancer Mom Shirley Shares Her Dream for Collaborating With Her Son
Has Shirley Ballas been married?
Shirley was engaged at age 16 to her dance partner, British ballroom champion Nigel Tiffany, but it didn’t last. However, as Hello reported, she said they were still friends in a sweet 2018 social media post.
In 1980, at 18, Shirley married her dance partner Sammy Stopford. As Hello reported, during their four-year marriage, her eye wandered. “After winning major trophies with Sammy, something was missing in my life, and then, out of the blue, I met this gentleman named Corky Ballas from Houston, Texas, and I fell in love,” she said. There were no hard feelings and Shirley stayed friendly with ex-husband Sammy.
The beauty married American ballroom dancer Corky in 1985 and they relocated to Houston, welcoming their only child, son Mark, there in 1986. Shirley, known as “The Queen of Latin,” and her husband were electrifying dance partners as well, becoming the 1996 Open to the World International Champions, 1995–1996 Open to the World British Champions, two-time British National Champions, and seven-time undefeated United States International Latin Champions.
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But their marriage faltered. Shirley said that after she and Corky had separated, he became involved with his dance student, Kristina Rihanoff, according to The Mirror. The Ballases divorced in 2007.
As longtime DWTS fans know, Corky performed as a pro in seasons 7 and 11, expertly steering two older stars: iconic comedienne Cloris Leachman and The Brady Bunch mom Florence Henderson (the two later passed away). Both times, Corky competed against son Mark.
Is Shirley Ballas married now?
In 2019, Shirley said she would wed her boyfriend, British actor Danny Taylor. But she called off their engagement in 2023 and they split up completely in November 2024.
Speaking on Paul C Brunson’s We Need To Talk podcast in 2025, Shirley mused that she’s “married” to dance and added, “Every relationship has ended up being a disaster. With my last boyfriend I thought I’d found The One and that also didn’t work. I’m obsessed with what I am and with what I do.”
Is Shirley Ballas’s son Mark Ballas?
Yes! Mark Ballas is indeed the son of Shirley Ballas. Mark recently told Parade about his mom, “She’s come from some hard knocks. She had to defy a lot of odds to get to where she is in her field. And I love that about her.”
Shirley has admitted that her busy dance schedule meant missing some of Mark’s childhood. As she told Hello! in 2024, “I wasn’t there for measles, first days of school, I was away for five Christmases. I look back at that and think, ‘Should I have stayed away?’ But then I think, ‘Okay, I was able to give a good living to take Mark to the places he wanted to go to in his life.'”
Related: Mark Ballas Reveals the Advice He Gave His Mom Before Her TV Judging Debut (Exclusive)
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What can viewers expect from Mark and Shirley Ballas on DWTS: The Next Pro?
“My mom and I had a blast together,” Mark told CBS Mornings. He pointed out that so many DWTS pros owe a lot to Shirley. “She is one of the best. She coached me, Derek (Hough), Julianne (Hough), Pascha (Pashkov), Val (Chmerkovskiy), so many names that she’s coached over the years. She is really tough love. But I’ve been a [DWTS] pro for 20 years so we’re both looking at it the same way but we have different opinions. [The show will feature] lots of mother-son agreements and some cute disagreements. I think it should be fun.”
Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images
Related: Meet ‘Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro’ Cast: The Reality TV Alums and Familiar Faces Joining the New Spinoff
