‘DWTS’: Mark Ballas Gets Funky With Bethany Mota — ‘She’s A Sweetheart’

Mark Ballas was paired with Bethany Mota on Week 5 of 'Dancing With The Stars,' which was the switch-up week! His real partner, Sadie Robertson, danced with pro Derek Hough, but Mark says that he loved dancing with Bethany! Dancing With The Stars switched it up on Oct. 13 with its annual partner swap episode, leaving Mark Ballas and Sadie Robertson on competing teams! Mark performed a sexy hip-hop dance with YouTube star Bethany Mota, and they even kissed on the dance floor! Read on for Mark's EXCLUSIVE HollywoodLife.com blog, plus WATCH his dance (and smooch!) with Bethany.

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Reading Time: 4 minutes
October 14, 2014 4:21PM EDT
Image Credit: Courtesy of Mark Ballas

Mark Ballas & Bethany Mota Smooch During Sexy Hip-Hop Routine

Mark and Bethany danced a sexy hip-hop routine on the Oct. 13 episode of Dancing With The Stars, earning a score of 32!

Mark’s regular partner Sadie got a 36, the highest score of the night, with Derek Hough for their incredible Charleston.

We loved Mark and Bethany together, and thought they did a great job with their funky hip-hop. We also loved that Derek and Sadie joined them on the dance floor. Both pairs supported each other, cheering on the sidelines, right after they danced on the live show. (Fun fact: Sadie told HollywoodLife.com that hip-hop is the style she wants to do the most!)

In this week’s blog, Mark tells HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY all about his week with Bethany.

‘DWTS’: Mark Ballas Exclusive Blog — Switches It Up With Bethany Mota

Hey, Hollywood Life!

Another amazing week! I had a fantastic time with Bethany — she’s an absolute sweetheart! It was awesome hanging out and getting to know her throughout the week. We connect on so many levels! Especially with music! We had so much fun shooting our package with the hoola-hooping, skipping, blowing bubbles. She’s an absolute star and such a sweet person. I’m going to miss her next week, but I’m really excited to have Sadie back at the same time!

To be honest, when I found out that Sadie had Derek for the switch-up, it was a huge weight off my shoulders. I was relieved and I knew that I could relax because she would be safe in Derek’s arms because he is incredible and like my brother! We had a lot of fun all week during rehearsals; Derek and I were FaceTime-ing, texting, and calling to check in with each other. He was giving me tips on Bethany and I was giving him tips on Sadie, so it was really a team effort! I thought both of the girls did incredibly well. I was so thrilled with Derek and Sadie’s dance. I thought she did an incredible job, and I loved the routine! It was really cool to watch as a fan at a distance than be her partner because my POV is usually her face and being up close, but it was nice to be further back and able to watch her just kill it! 

I was a little bummed on Bethany’s score. I felt like she could have gotten a couple of 9’s, and I took it to heart afterwards because we worked so hard on getting a little more “oomph” out of her in her performance. Even the judges said she had improved on that, but she still got the same score as the week before. I was being a little hard on myself backstage, but as the night went on, it seemed like the scoring got increasingly worse. The vibe backstage definitely reflected that, people were really down about it, so I thought maybe I shouldn’t be so upset because everyone was going through it, too. Still, the scoring was on the lower side across the board and it’s tough because these people are not professional dancers, but they’re out here doing the best that they can. The judges were throwing up 5’s and giving some tough criticism. I know it’s their opinion and it’s professional and they want to be constructive, but I felt that it was just a little too harsh. 

I’m looking forward to having Sadie back and dancing the Rumba next week. It’s a sensual, romantic dance, and I want to make sure that it’s age-appropriate while still telling the story as beautifully as she does. It’s also Pitbull week! I’m a big Pitbull fan, so it’ll be awesome to have him come on the show, perform, and judge. I’m really looking forward to it! 

All in all, great week, some amazing routines tonight. I was so proud of Sadie and Derek, and truly blessed to have had Bethany in the switch-up and enjoy the experience with her because she’s an amazing person! So I’m really glad that I made such an awesome new friend!

So, until next week!
Mark Ballas 

HollywoodLifers, did you love watching Mark partnered up with Bethany or did you miss seeing him with Sadie? Let us know!

— Mark Ballas

More ‘DWTS’ Blogs From Mark Ballas:

  1. ‘DWTS’: Mark Ballas’ Favorite Night Was Dancing With ‘Duck Dynasty’
  2. ‘DWTS’: Mark Ballas ‘Underwhelmed & Disappointed’ By Week 3 Scores
  3. ‘DWTS’ Week 2: Mark Ballas Stuns With Cute Cowgirl Sadie Robertson