Overview
- One day after the finale, Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas performed their planned freestyle on Call Her Daddy, staging a jazz‑inflected “My Way” number with imagery about social media’s mental‑health toll.
- During the interview, Ballas read a profane direct message to show the severity of abuse they received, saying such messages were relentless throughout the season.
- Reaction to the off‑show freestyle was divided, with some longtime Dancing With the Stars viewers calling it poor etiquette and others praising the choreography.
- The pair discussed factors they say fueled backlash and voting dynamics, citing Leavitt’s BYU dance training and her polarizing role on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.
- Coverage also revisited a now‑deleted TikTok ticket giveaway that Newsweek reported ABC and the BBC asked to remove over concerns it could be seen as incentivized voting.