Shirley Ballas was involved in a heated backstage exchange with Dancing with the Stars contestant Carlos PenaVega in 2015, according to his wife Alexa PenaVega. The couple competed in the same series of the ABC Latin and ballroom dance show, and Carlos was so upset when Alexa and Mark Ballas, Shirley's son, were eliminated in week nine that he confronted Shirley backstage.
Podcast Revelation
Discussing the incident on their LexLos podcast, Carlos recalled his devastation at Alexa's elimination, saying: "I cried my little butt off. I was such a little baby." Alexa added: "The best moment is, after I get eliminated, Carlos and Shirley Ballas, who is Mark's mother… get in a fight backstage because she goes, 'Are you happy? Semi-finals?'"
A furious Carlos responded at the time: "No, I'm not happy! My wife just got eliminated!" However, Carlos later softened his view, saying on the podcast: "She's actually sweet. It was bad timing for me... she wasn't trying to be mean."
Private Joke and Feud Claims
The moment has since become a private joke between Alexa and Carlos. Alexa said: "It's something we say ... all the time now," impersonating Shirley with the phrase: "Are you happy?"
Alexa also claimed that Mark and Carlos' dance partner Witney Carson, with whom Carlos finished fourth on the series, had a secret feud on Dancing with the Stars. She explained: "At the time, Witney and Mark were not getting along at all. 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."
Shirley's US Return
It comes as it was confirmed Shirley will be heading over to the US to join Dancing with the Stars, where her son Mark is still a pro dancer, as a guest judge.
