Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas almost cut this part out of their “DWTS” week 4 routine
Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas almost cut this part out of their “DWTS” week 4 routine
Leigh BlickleyWed, October 7, 2026 at 8:08 PM UTC
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Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas dancing on ‘DWTS’Credit: Disney/Eric McCandlessKey Points -
Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas almost cut an important move out of their week 4 DWTS routine.
The pair shared with EW that Higgins was struggling to nail a double spin.
Ballas said he nearly took it out of the dance before Higgins proved she could do it in a final rehearsal.
ICYMI: Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas nearly cut a nine-worthy move out of their Dancing With the Stars week 4 routine.
After “Mariah Carey Night” on Tuesday, Oct. 6, The Traitors alums and season 35 dance partners chatted with Entertainment Weekly about Higgins’ inability to nail a double spin in the ballroom. The move was so tricky, in fact, that Ballas almost took it out of their performance.
“This dance was a tough one, and we put in a lot of work,” Higgins told EW in the post-episode chat, with Ballas agreeing, “We worked hard on this one.”
“Mark was literally going to take out that double spin yesterday because in our dress rehearsal the spins just weren’t happening,” Higgins shared, with Ballas noting the bit “almost didn’t make it.”
“There’s certain moves you practice in the room at the rehearsal and then when you come [to the ballroom], it’s an energy shift because of the camera, the lights, and the crowd,” Ballas explained to EW. “Moves with higher difficulty can sometimes escape you so, after our rehearsal [in the ballroom], I was like, ‘Maybe we should take it out.’ And she was like, ‘No, I want to try. I can do it. I can do it.’ And I was like, ‘I believe you can do it, but I want you to be comfortable.’”
Higgins said she relied on positive, “believe in yourself” comments to fuel her, and she stuck with it. “I was like, ‘No, Mark. I know I can do it. I just need to relax into it,’” she shared. “It was a risk, obviously, because I could’ve went backwards.”
The Love Island U.K. alum kept at it and eventually proved to Ballas that she could pull the spin off.
“It’s my job to edit, right? So I never want to put something on her that she’s dreading before she gets out here. But after our rehearsal [back] at the studio, it settled more because the nerves kind of [went down] and I was like, ‘No, you can do this. You can do it. Let’s keep it,’” Ballas explained.
Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas on ‘DWTS’ on Oct. 6Credit: Disney/Eric McCandless
Good thing they did because Higgins and Ballas’ waltz to Mariah Carey’s “If It’s Over” earned a 25 out of 30, and the first nine of the season.
“I fell to the floor because, for one, I was not expecting that,” Higgins said of her reaction to their score. “I started this competition saying, ‘I’m just going to do my best.’ I never ever, ever expected to ever get a nine. And, you know as well, there’s much better dancers in this competition. Like, hello? And I think a few others could’ve got some nines tonight, if I’m being totally honest. I was in the skybox, like, mouth was hitting the floor.”
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She added, “That’s not saying I’m not happy about it. I’m so happy! I just really wasn’t expecting it at all.”
Higgins is at the top of the leaderboard, with fellow contestants Harry Shum Jr., Ezra Frech, and Jenna Dewan trailing close behind.
During week 4, Ballas opened up about how natural a dancer Higgins is in their pre-taped package ahead of their dance.
“Every now and again we’ll get a contestant who has an untapped gift,” Ballas told Higgins. “If the plant had been watered when you were a child, you might have been a good dancer, who knows?”
Higgins grew up in a rural area of Ireland filled with “fields and sheep,” and admitted her family wouldn’t have been able to afford to go into Dublin for dance lessons.
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Suffice it to say, Higgins impressed viewers at home and the judges, with Derek Hough calling her waltz “beautiful, pure ballroom dancing.”
Carrie Ann Inaba teared up over the routine, which she deemed “artistry in motion.”
“I thought you were excellent. Excellent. Excellent,” she noted.
Dancing With the Stars airs every Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and Disney+, and streams the next day on Hulu.
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
