Carlos PenaVega recalls getting into fight with Mark Ballas’ mom on “DWTS”: ‘It was bad timing for me’
Carlos PenaVega recalls getting into fight with Mark Ballas’ mom on “DWTS”: ‘It was bad timing for me’
Kathleen PerriconeSun, October 25, 2026 at 2:30 PM UTC
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Carlos PenaVega; Shirley and Mark BallasCredit: Dave Kotinsky/Getty; Disney/Vince ValituttiKey Points -
Carlos PenaVega recalls getting into fight with Mark Ballas’ mom on DWTS during season 21.
Shirley Ballas, a dancing legend, congratulated the actor on making it to the semi-finals after his wife had just been eliminated.
“She’s actually sweet, it was bad timing for me,” admitted Carlos.
Carlos PenaVega’s emotions got the best of him on Dancing With the Stars — and Mark Ballas’ mother somehow caught a stray.
The Nickelodeon star and his wife, Spy Kids actress Alexa PenaVega, competed on the same season in 2015. Although they hoped to both make it to the Final 2, Alexa and her partner, Ballas, were eliminated early in Week 9.
“I cried my little butt off,” recalled Carlos, who was partnered with Witney Carson, on his and Alexa’s podcast, LexLos. “I was such a little baby.”
Mark Ballas hugs Alexa PenaVega after their elimination on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ on Nov. 9, 2015Credit: Adam Taylor/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
And he threw a tantrum once the episode ended.
“The best moment is, after I get eliminated, Carlos and Shirley Ballas, who is Mark’s mother… get in a fight backstage,” revealed Alexa with a laugh. “Because she goes, ‘Are you happy? Semi-finals?’”
In unison, the couple then recounted his response to the dancing legend: “No, I’m not happy! My wife just got eliminated!”
Carlos, who made it to 4th place that season, admitted it wasn’t his finest moment.
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“She’s actually sweet,” he said of Shirley, who occasionally appears on DWTS and is head judge on its British counterpart, Strictly Come Dancing. “It was bad timing for me... she wasn’t trying to be mean.”
The memorable moment has since become an inside joke in the PenaVega household. “It’s something we say ... all the time now,” revealed Alexa, who switched into a Shirley impression. “Are you happy?”
Alexa’s own reaction to being eliminated also continues to haunt the actress a decade later. The moment her and Ballas’ names were read, she immediately comforted her husband and not her partner.
“Looking back now, even watching our elimination, it made me sad for Mark,” she admitted. “I was so worried about catering to you and your feelings, I left Mark in the dust over and over again.”
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The PenaVegas also dished on the behind-the-scenes drama between their respective partners.
“At the time, Witney and Mark were not getting along at all,” Alexa confirmed. “So they refused to be in the same room together, and that was really hard because we’re married and the whole point [of being on DWTS] was we’re gonna do this together as much as possible... We thought we’d be rehearsing in the same room and now we have to be so separate. We have to dance around whatever’s going on with them.”
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
