Paige VanZant is happy to sign a few autographs and say hi to the fans outside the dance studio in Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon (April 14).
The 22-year-old UFC fighter spoke with MMAJunkie about her switch up partner, Sasha Farber.
“It’s really exciting, and of course I’m nervous about dancing with a new partner because me and Mark [Ballas] do have a good stride going and a great relationship,” she admitted. “But at the same time, I feel like it’s part of the competition. I’m just here for fun, so I’m just going to embrace it and enjoy every second of meeting a new friend and dancing with someone new.”
Paige and Sasha will be performing a Rumba to “Perfect” by One Direction.
Witney Carson is also spotted arriving and leaving practice on Wednesday (April 13) and Thursday.
Paige VanZant gets her cowboy on with partner Mark Ballas on Dancing with the Stars on Monday (April 11) from Los Angeles.
The 22-year-old UFC fighter and Mark performed a fun Quickstep to “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from Pixar’s Toy Story.
PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Paige VanZant
Paige and Mark earned 36 points out of 40 from the judging panel, which included guest judge Zendaya.
“It’s Disney night here on the set of @dancingabc ???? get ready to see me get rowdy as Jessie from Toy Story!” Paige shared on Instagram earlier in the day, showing off her temporary hair color.
Be sure to vote for Team PowRightInTheKisser by calling 1-800-868-3610.
Mark Ballas walks his cutie pie pooch, Hendrix, around the dance studio during some downtime from practice with Paige VanZant in Los Angeles earlier this week.
The 29-year-old pro dancer was joined at the studios by fellow pros, Sasha Farber, Witney Carson, Peta Murgatroyd, Keo Motsepe and Lindsay Arnold, along with their partners, Von Miller, Jodie Sweetin, Nyle DiMarco and Wayna Morris.
Troupe dancers Alan Bersten, Brittany Cherry, Dennis Jauch, Hayley Erbert, Jenna Johnson, Kiril Kulish, and Shannon Holtzapffel were also seen out the studio.
Did you miss the song and dance list for Disney Week on Dancing With The Stars? See it now on JJJ!
35+ pics inside of Mark Ballas, Paige VanZant and more…
Paige VanZant playfully jumps on Mark Ballas‘ back in this shot from Dancing With The Stars on Monday night (April 4).
Team PowInTheKisser performed an MMA inspired Paso Doble, earning 23 points for their performance.
“He did most of the teaching from a chair. It wasn’t until Saturday that he really stepped in to do the dance with me,” Paige shared in her blog after the show about Mark‘s teaching during the past week.
She continued, “Until Saturday, I was doing it with Alan (Bersten) most of the time, and then Mark would step in when he could. It was up to Sunday and Monday for us to get it down together. It was definitely a little scary going into it, only rehearsing with Mark for not very long. But he did a good job with all of it, and hopefully he’ll be better and can dance full time (in practice) this week.”
Paige added, “I think Mark‘s still undecided exactly what he’s doing (with rehearsals with the injury), so I feel a little in the dark with a lot of it. But whatever happens, I’ll be comfortable with whoever I’m dancing with, or whoever I’m learning the dance with. It’ll be OK.
Paige is also pictured out with a friend after practice with Mark on Tuesday afternoon (April 5).
20+ pics inside of Paige VanZant and Mark Ballas…
Paige VanZant heats up the dance floor with partner Mark Ballas on Dancing with the Stars on Monday (April 4) from Los Angeles.
The 22-year-old UFC fighter and Mark performed a stunning Paso Dobl� set to “300 Violin Orchestra” by Jorge Quintero.
PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Paige VanZant
Paige and Mark earned 23 points out of 30 from the judging panel, putting her at the top of the leaderboard along with Jodie Sweetin.
Be sure to vote for Team PowInTheKisser by calling 1-800-868-3610.
Paige VanZant heads into the dance studio for a late afternoon practice with Mark Ballas on Friday afternoon (April 1).
The team — called PowInTheKisser – are still working around Mark‘s back injury this week as they prepare for Most Memorable Year week on Dancing With The Stars.
“1 more exam to go..Results should be in tmrw hopefully,” Mark shared on Twitter earlier in the week with fans. “Thank you for all your supportive tweets, it means the world.”
Crossing fingers we get to see Mark and Paige kill it on the show Monday!
Paige is also seen getting a coffee to go the day before after practice.
15+ pics inside of Paige VanZant and Mark Ballas…
Paige VanZant arrives for a new day of practice at the dance studio in Los Angeles on Wednesday afternoon (March 30).
The 22-year-old UFC fighter met up with both pro partner Mark Ballas and temp partner Alan Bersten to work on her Most Memorable Week routine.
“This really is a different experience (being on the show compared to fighting). But for me, fighting’s kind of comparable to this. I’ve had fighters drop out of fights and you have to get ready for a new opponent, and then I’ve also had the same back injury that Mark has and I had to postpone my UFC debut,” Paige shared with MMAJunkie after Monday night’s show, which showed how Mark was injured.
She continued, “Anything can happen. But it’s a good experience, and I’m just trying to go out there and have fun and do the best with everything I can, and hopefully it can lead to other UFC fighters getting opportunities like this.”
Paige added about dancing with Alan, “They don’t have (specific) understudies for each (pro dancer). Mark got to choose who he wanted to perform with me, and Alan was the best choice. He said that he’s a really, really good dancer. And it was his first time being with a star on the show. He had only been with the troupe dancers doing the little dances here and there throughout the night. So he was very, very excited and it was really fun.”
30+ pics inside of Paige, Alan and Mark…
