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Some fans of “Dancing With the Stars” believe there will be a fourth judge on the roster for season 32, as they believe Shirley Ballas will be that judge after a cryptic Instagram post.
The speculation came after Ballas posted a photo on Instagram that included part of a logo that some fans thought looked like the end of the “Dancing With the Stars” logo.
“There is something so very exciting coming soon,” she wrote as the caption. “I can’t wait for you to find out what I’ve been working on. It’s going to be marvellous. Please keep checking back on my Instagram grid to see the photo piece together. What could it be? Let me know your guesses … Xx.”
Fans immediately took to the comment section to guess that Ballas was joining “Dancing With the Stars” alongside Derek Hough, Carrie Ann Inaba, and Bruno Tonioli, though it’s unlikely that that is her announcement.
“Your own dance school? Or dwts?,” one fan guessed. Some fans also took to a Reddit thread to say they think she’s joining the show.
Others thought it was more likely that the ballroom legend and “Strictly Come Dancing” star was announcing a tour soon.
Shirley Ballas Has Said There Will be 3 Judges
The reason it’s unlikely that Ballas will be joining “Dancing With the Stars” is because she previously revealed that the show will be going back to three judges instead of four after the retirement of Len Goodman.
In a segment on British talk show “Loose Women,” Ballas shared that she had been in talks to join “Dancing With the Stars” but wouldn’t be because the executives decided there would only be three judges.
“I think at the moment, I spoke to [executive producer and showrunner] Conrad Green, I think at the moment they’re going to keep it to three judges,” Ballas shared. She previously said she’d love to join the show.
Shirley Ballas’s Son, Mark Ballas, May Make a Return to the Ballroom
One of the reasons Shirley Ballas was interested in joining “Dancing With the Stars” was so she’d be able to see her son, professional dancer and Mirrorball champion Mark Ballas, much more often.
“You know, the bonus of being over there would be that I see my son every week. I miss him — we’ve all got family — I saw him at Christmas, he came over for 10 days,” she shared during the segment, adding that she was in a “slump” when he left to go back to the United States.
Mark made his return to the ballroom for season 31 of the show after five seasons away from the ballroom. The dancer ended up winning the competition alongside his partner, TikTok star Charli D’Amelio. Shirley revealed that she helped Mark get ready to dance again when he ended up taking the job.
“He got offered the job on ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ he hadn’t done it for five years. He goes, ‘No, mom, I’m not [going to do it],’ so I flew back to England, ready for our launch show [for ‘Strictly Come Dancing’], just about to go on our launch show and he goes, ‘Could you fly back tomorrow, mom? I’ve decided to do it, but I need to get back into shape,’” Ballas said on the talk show. “So I went out there and he had to keep up with me for two weeks! He got back into shape.”
At the time of writing, no announcements have been made about “Dancing With the Stars” season 32, so it’s possible Mark will return to the ballroom in search of another Mirrorball trophy.