With Season 22 of Dancing With The Stars, DWTS, kaput, Mark Ballas is now completely focused on his band with his fiancée and planning their wedding.
UFC fighter Paige VanZant, his celebrity partner this season, and Ballas were crowned the runner ups, mere inches away from grasping the coveted mirror ball trophy.
“It was a little disappointing at the end, but this season I got to do some great things and my partner was hard working,” Ballas said.
Both Season 6 and Season 8 of DWTS were won by Ballas and his celebrity partners, so Mark’s had a taste of what it’s like to win. The professional dancer and his runner up partner did more than dancing this season. He had this to say about the intimidating UFC champion.
“We would wrestle all the time. I actually used to do a little jujitsu when I was younger so I could handle myself a little it, but she definitely showed me up a couple times.”
Three years ago, Mark Ballas realized something was not right with his lifestyle choices. We spoke to him in 2013 when he made the decision to quit smoking cigarettes with the support of his family and the What’s Your Why Campaign.
“I was a smoker for a long time. I grew up in the UK. My mom was a smoker, my dad was a smoker, and my Uncle Dave was a smoker. A lot of my friends in high school and college smoked too. I started when I was about 16 years old, on and off for ten years or so,” Ballas said about the origins of the addiction.
“I just finally got to a point to where it was affecting me professionally. When I was younger I felt like it wouldn’t and later on in life it did. I made the decision to quit and I needed help. I tried quitting cold turkey a couple times, but ultimately I would always come back. So I ended up using the Nicoderm CQ patch. It worked out really well for me,” he said.
After finding his solution, the What’s Your Why Campaign kicked into full gear. Mark has been smoke free for two years now and encourages others to share their “why” for kicking their nasty habit to the curb.
“I feel in better shape, and working on music has been much better. I all around feel much healthier. Working with the What’s Your Why campaign and encouraging people to share their whys, their reasons for quitting smoking, and sharing their stories has been a passion of mine and it’s been really incredible. I’ve been working with the company for the past 3 years, and I’ve been smoke free for the past two,” Ballas said.
Having to go through the journey himself, Ballas knows how hard it can be to quit and hopes by sharing his story it can inspire others to change their lifestyle choices for the better, as well. Here’s his advice to all who are struggling:
“I use the patch because I’m so active all day I didn’t want to think about it. My advice is if you want to live a healthy lifestyle like dieting and going to the gym you have to be disciplined, you have to keep your eye on the prize. It helps to have family and friends support and people backing you, but ultimately you have to make the decision on your own and you have to go for it 100%. It’s not going to be easy. There will be setbacks, and cravings, and things that come up in the way, but if you stay focused you will reach that goal.”
Other exciting milestones are happening for the professional dancer such as his upcoming marriage. His fiancée, BC Jean, has been taking on most of the wedding planning without an exact date to go off of.
“We were heavy into planning early on in the year and now my fiancée and I are in a music duo that were about to go on tour with. Planning that and recording our new EP went into full swing, so we put the wedding planning on hold for now. We’ll be revisiting it this summer when we have some time to be focused. We don’t want to rush anything. We just want it to be perfect,” Ballas said.
As for the feel of the black tie event, BC has been taking full responsibility for the decisions. Ballas even referred to her as “the boss.”
“I want to do an outdoor wedding, but we’ll have to see if it’s the right vibe,” BC Jean said about their upcoming nuptials.
Due to their entertaining talent, the couple and band duo may be performing at the wedding.
Ballas said, “Knowing me, I’ll end up on stage. I know it’s going to be a hell of a dance party this year.”
“We’ll probably have a lot of friends who will want to perform and get up there,” BC Jean said.
When it comes to the wedding party, rumors have surfaced that Derek Hough will be Mark Ballas’ best man. The two grew up together, but Mark kept his plans under wraps. Fingers crossed for you Derek!
Getting married is not the only venture in Ballas and Jean’s relationship. They’re both in a band called Alexander Jean, whose EP is out on iTunes Friday June 3.
“We just left performing on Live with Kelly which was incredible,” Ballas said about their performance of the new track titled, “Thief.”
“We’re going on tour this summer it’s called the Head High Tour and our first date is on June 17. It will be in Santa Ana,” Ballas said.
“We’re going be out on the road for a little over a month. We’re just looking forward playing a different city, touring around, meeting the fans, and getting to share our music with everybody. It’s been a really great ride since we released “Roses and Violets” last year. The song did so well,” he continued.
BC describes their genre as pop, soul, and rock. She said, “The album has a lot of cool elements to it it’s hard to categorize it.”
The 30-year-old previous DWTS champion and recently runner up, has a lot going for him in 2016, including a wedding, band tour, and non-smoking campaign, all with fiancée BC Jean by his side.
Check out their performance of "Thief" earlier this year for iHeart Radio: