Heavy/Getty Mark Ballas' fetish revealed by his former DWTS partner.
Season 6 “Dancing With the Stars” champ Kristi Yamaguchi talked about her partnership with Mark Ballas during the March 18, 2024, episode of the “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans” podcast.
During her chat with podcast host Cheryl Burke, Yamaguchi shared that Ballas has a foot fetish. Burke asked Yamaguchi what Ballas’ fetish is.
“Feet,” Yamaguchi responded. “But smelly feet. The more smellier the better,” she said. When Burke said it was “gross,” Yamaguchi agreed.
Ballas joined the cast of “Dancing With the Stars” as a pro on season 6. He’s won three Mirrorball Trophies over the course of his time on the dance competition show.
Here’s what you need to know:
Sadie Robertson Previously Commented on Mark Ballas’ ‘Weird’ Fetish
In a 2014 appearance on “The Badie Show,” season 19 “Dancing With the Stars” competitor Sadie Robertson talked a bit about Ballas’ foot fetish.
“Mark likes to smell people’s shoes… I don’t like that. That’s weird,” Robertson said.
“I heard that! Someone told me that Mark has this weird obsession,” Bethany Mota, who danced the season with Derek Hough, said. “Is it shoes or feet?” she asked Robertson to clarify.
“I think it’s both,” Robertson replied. “But it’s mainly shoes because he said if you smell the shoes and they stink, like, they’re supposed to smell bad after dancing, if you worked hard,” she added.
Robertson said that she’d never seen Ballas smell her shoes after rehearsals but admitted that the ballroom pro told her that he does. “Gross,” she concluded.
When it came time for Mota to weigh in on some dirt about Hough, she said that he sweat a lot.
“The week that I had to stay on the bass, he was like, fixing my hair, and I’m not going to lie — a drop of sweat fell onto my face. It was like, a sweat shower, and it was absolutely disgusting,” Mota recalled.
Mota and Hough made it to the semifinals that season while Ballas and Robertson finished the competition in second place, losing the Mirrorball Trophy to Alfonso Ribeiro and Witney Carson.
Mark Ballas Has Retired From ‘Dancing With the Stars’
After winning the Mirrorball Trophy on season 31, Ballas decided it was time to step away from “Dancing With the Stars.” Although he hasn’t made any sort of official announcement on social media, he did share the news on the “Dancing With the Stars” live tour in 2023.
“I just want to finish this by saying that this will be the last time you see me dance in this capacity. I’m coming to a close tonight. This is gonna be my last dance. I had the best time ever this season, and this freestyle was a great way to finish it off. … Thank you guys for a lifetime of memories,” Ballas said during a show in Los Angeles in March 2023.
“This is the last time I’ll be dancing with a partner,” he added.
Ballas did return to the “Dancing With the Stars” stage on season 32 to participate in the Len Goodman tribute. He also danced with his season 31 partner, Charli D’Amelio, on the show’s finale. The duo passed the proverbial torch to Valentin Chmerkovskiy and Xochitl Gomez who won season 32.
READ NEXT: Former DWTS Pro Shares Heartbreaking Truth After Sudden Loss