Mark Ballas built one of the most decorated résumés in Dancing with the Stars history before Season 4 of The Traitors gave him a rare distinction of his own: he never received a single Round Table vote all season.
Long before the castle, Ballas was already one of the most successful professional partners in his show’s history.
Three Mirrorball Trophies
Ballas has been a Dancing with the Stars professional since 2007 and has won the mirrorball trophy three times, partnered with Kristi Yamaguchi in Season 6, Shawn Johnson in Season 8, and Charli D’Amelio in Season 31. That track record made him one of the most successful pros in the show’s history and a natural fit for a Traitors cast built around proven competitors.
A Clean Faithful Run
Ballas played Season 4 entirely as a Faithful and built early alliances with Kristen Kish, Stephen Colletti, and Eric Nam. He also joined a trust alliance nicknamed “the Dagger” with Kristen Kish and Rob Rausch, never realizing Rausch was actually playing as a Traitor the entire time. Despite being connected to eventual Traitors and shifting alliances throughout the season, Ballas never drew a single Round Table vote, a genuinely rare feat in a game built entirely around suspicion. He was eventually murdered in Episode 11, finishing 6th of 23, one of the longer-surviving Faithfuls of the season.
Life Now
Since the season aired, Ballas has joked publicly about the idea of a future Dancing with the Stars pairing with Rausch, floating the image of the two of them in “rhinestone overalls” on the ballroom floor. Between three mirrorball wins and a Traitors run where he was trusted by nearly everyone, including the winner, Ballas has built a reputation across two very different competition shows as someone people simply don’t suspect of working against them.