Dancing with the Stars fans had their hearts broken in 2016 when Mark Ballas left the show after nine years. Luckily, he returned just in time for Season 25, and it’s all thanks to his partner Lindsey Stirling!

“I probably wouldn’t be here [without her],” Mark told Life & Style exclusively at Planet Hollywood in NYC. Mark and Lindsey were already good friends, and he’s been pushing her to do a season of the hit TV series for a while. “Honestly, I’ve been wanting Lindsey to do this show for a couple years… and her schedule never allowed it.”

Mark has been following his passion on Broadway, and just wrapped up a stint in Jersey Boys when he heard Lindsey was finally ready to put on her dancing shoes. “I was actually meant to be doing another theater gig, but it got pushed,” he explained. “The next day I found out Lindsey was doing this season. So I made a call and here we are. It was very serendipitous. It was all meant to happen.”

It definitely seems like there’s a higher power at play, because from the very start of the season they’ve been the partnership from heaven! They kicked things off with a respectable score of 22 for their cha-cha, which tied for the highest score of the night. And during Week 2, they took the top spot, but just barely! We can already tell this season is going to be a nail-biter.

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BeD HeAdS…. #TeamSTARK #JiveisComing #MessyHairWeDontCare #DWTS

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Mark loves working with his pal, and they’re not going to stop at dancing. The pro dancer, who also has a band with his wife BC Jean, wants to make music with the viral violinist. “We’re going to do it all,” he gushed. We can’t wait to see everything they accomplish together!