Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas Eliminated from DWTS After Giveaway Cancellation

When Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas announced a fan giveaway tied to their viral Wicked-themed dance on Dancing With The Stars, they thought they were simply returning the love. Instead, they triggered a network-level crackdown that ended their season—and possibly their shot at the Mirror Ball. The cancellation came on November 15, 2025, just days after their performance earned three perfect 10s, and just hours before their TikTok post went live. ABC and BBC Studios issued an immediate order: cancel it. No exceptions. No explanations. Just silence.

Why a Giveaway Became a Scandal

It wasn’t the prize—two tickets to a live DWTS show in Los Angeles—that set off alarms. It was the ask. Leavitt and Ballas had told fans to like, comment, and share the post to enter. For influencers like Leavitt, that’s standard practice. For DWTS, it’s a red line. The show’s rules explicitly forbid any form of vote solicitation, incentive-based engagement, or external promotion that could manipulate viewer voting. The network’s legal team had been monitoring contestant socials closely after last season’s vote-rigging allegations. This time, they moved fast.

"We actually can't do a giveaway for the Dancing With The Stars live show," Leavitt said in the now-deleted TikTok video, her voice cracking. "It just really sucks because Mark and I just wanted to do something really special for you guys that have shown us so much support and love." She paused, then added, "We're gonna get creative." But the damage was done.

Backlash Was Already Brewing

This wasn’t Leavitt’s first controversy. Back on October 21, 2025, during the Halloween Monsterthon, she and Ballas won over fan favorites Alix Earle and Valentin Chmerkovskiy. Viewers flooded Twitter with screenshots of the scores, calling it "judging bias." One fan wrote: "They danced like ghosts. She danced like a storm." The internet didn’t forget.

By the time the giveaway dropped, Leavitt had already been labeled "the judge’s pet" by some online communities. Even her strong performances—four top-three finishes in five weeks—couldn’t offset the narrative. "It’s not about the dancing anymore," said Reality Tea reporter Chloe Cullens in a November 30, 2025 piece. "It’s about whether the audience believes she’s earned it. And right now, a lot of them don’t."

The Network’s Iron Grip

ABC and BBC Studios didn’t just shut down the giveaway—they issued a cease-and-desist to all DWTS contestants for similar promotions. "We’ve seen this before," said entertainment lawyer Rachel Nguyen, who’s advised multiple reality shows. "When influencers try to leverage their platform for voting advantages, it erodes trust in the entire system. The network’s job isn’t to be fair—it’s to be seen as fair." The rules are buried in contestant contracts, but they’re clear: no direct or indirect solicitation of votes. No contests. No raffles. No "tag a friend" giveaways. Even thanking fans with "enter to win tickets" is a violation. The networks don’t want the illusion of a meritocracy broken.

Elimination: The Unspoken Consequence

On November 19, 2025, Leavitt and Ballas were eliminated during the DWTS season 34 semifinals—the final couple cut before the finale. It wasn’t the lowest score. It wasn’t the worst dance. But it was the most predictable. "We had a gut feeling," Leavitt told E! News’s Zuri Hall in an emotional post-elimination interview. "You can feel when the crowd’s not with you." Industry analysts confirmed the giveaway was the tipping point. "Fan votes play a major part in who wins the Mirror Ball," said Parade’s Madison Miller. "And when you’re perceived as trying to game the system—even if you’re not—it costs you more than points. It costs you heart." Ballas, a 10-season veteran, stayed quiet in public but posted on Instagram the next day: "Whitney should be in Chicago the Musical next." The comment wasn’t just a career suggestion—it was a quiet acknowledgment that her reality TV chapter had closed.

What This Means for Future Contestants

The fallout has sent ripples through the reality TV industry. Other shows—American Idol, The Voice, even Survivor—are reviewing their social media policies. Contestants are now being briefed with new guidelines: "Don’t thank fans publicly. Don’t offer anything. Don’t even hint."

"It’s a lose-lose," said social media strategist Derek Lin. "If you don’t engage, you look cold. If you engage the way influencers normally do, you get punished. The system isn’t broken—it’s designed to keep control." For Leavitt, the journey began in August 2025 with a casting announcement that called her "a new kind of celebrity contestant." It ended with a quiet exit, a canceled giveaway, and a question no one wants to answer: Was she eliminated because she danced poorly—or because she dared to be real?