Mark Ballas is shooting down reports he's pissed at Julianne Hough by insisting he was in on the joke when she criticized his Dancing with the Stars performance last week with celebrity partner Christina Milian.

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"I think it was just tongue and cheek, and you know, she was kidding around. We went to dinner that night -- me, her and [her brother Derek Hough]," Ballas said of his childhood friend during a Tuesday morning appearance on Good Morning America with Milian.

"People just like to make things a bigger deal than they are."

Julianne, who had served as a guest judge last week in the place of Len Goodman, said Milian needed to shine more but she understood it's hard for Ballas' dancing partner to rise to the occasion since she'd literally have to dance in front of him to be seen.    

Ballas explained the comment didn't really bother him although he had previously admitted he found it "hypocritical" for Julianne to say. 

"I mean, not really. Nothing really shakes me," Ballas said.

"Yeah, he was cool! I was his partner; I was a little startled," Milian interjected with a big smile. "I was like, 'I didn't get it!'"

"It's all good, it's all good," Ballas noted.

During their GMA appearance, Milian and Ballas -- who tied for first place on the leaderboard with 28 out of 30 possible points, which included the first 10 score of the season -- also opened up about their unexpected ouster during last night's Dancing with the Stars show.

"I was speechless," Milian said. "We had a great performance. Based on that alone, [it was a shock] of course. The judges' scores felt really good."

Ballas weighed-in on how he felt about host Tom Bergeron's announcement at the very beginning of last night's broadcast that a female would most likely be going home based upon America's vote alone.

"That was alarming at first, but then when we got the 10, I was like, 'Well if it was us, hopefully that steered us in the clear.' But apparently not!" Ballas said. "It was a colorful dance. It was her best dance yet. It was her best score yet, so I guess you could say we went out with a bang."

Milian might've gotten eliminated fairly early in the Dancing with the Stars season, but she explained she definitely grew through the short experience she had.

"I was really proud of the fact I was actually opening up," Milian said.

"I felt like last night was the night that I felt completely open and showed the world, 'This is me,' and it even showed in my performance... When I first started the show, I kind of felt out of place a little, like, 'I don't want to do this!' But I feel so new to this audience, and I feel slowly working with Mark, my confidence level has gone up and I've been introduced to a new crowd, which is great."
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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