‘DWTS’ Shirley & Mark Ballas Discuss His Strange Accent
Long-time Dancing With The Stars fans are very familiar with Mark Ballas. After a prolonged absence, he briefly returned as a pro dancer in Season 31, when he won the Mirrorball Trophy with Charli D’Amelio.
Mark reappeared in Season 33 as a guest judge, winning favor from many viewers. However, a few noticed something interesting about the professional dancer. Mark Ballas has an incredibly interesting way of speaking. It isn’t quite British, but isn’t quite American either.
Read on to see what he and his mother Shirley Ballas had to say.
Mark Ballas’ Mother Explains His Upbringing & Accent
At least one of Mark Ballas’ followers insisted his accent was fake. He enlisted the help of his mother, Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas, to explain.
“OK, Mum, some people want to know why my accent goes in and out. Why it sometimes sounds British and why it sometimes sounds American. And why it’s a bit spotty,” Mark asks his mother.
His father Corky Ballas is from Texas, while his mother Shirley is from Liverpool in England. Mark lived in the UK from ages 4-21 before he moved back to the United States. So naturally, he has a bit of an English accent.
“You have listened to your mother’s accent all your life. From Liverpool, you know what I mean?” Shirley explains. “When you were a little boy, you were all English.”
“You are what we call half and half,” the Strictly Come Dancing judge continues in the video. “You don’t realize, actually, how British you are. But I love it when I hear you on Dancing With The Stars and you’ve got that English twang.”
@markballas1 Replying to @User0570157 I Had to let the QUEEN OF LATIN give some of yous a Histroy Lesson 🤣🇬🇧 @Shirley Ballas ♬ T Pain – Pete & Bas
DWTS Fans React To The TikTok
At the end of the day, most understood there was likely a very reasonable explanation for the accent. It would be incredibly odd for Mark to fake a British accent for no reason.
The dancer’s fans flooded the comments to defend his speaking pattern. Comments included:
- “Accent mimics who you speak with… my Spanish accent switches depending who I speak with.”
- “My cousins are Texans living in Wimbledon. The kids had the cutest Texan/British hybrid accents. Imagine the word y’all said in a tiny British accent 😂”
- “I love how the accent changes!”
- “I think Mark and his family just need to be protected at all time they are amazing”
Did you notice Mark Ballas’ accent shifting while on camera? Share your own thoughts in the comments below.
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