Yikes! Mark Ballas Can't Escape the DWTS Curse

Two-time disco ball champ experiences a streak of personal and professional setbacks. Find out how he's doing

Poor Mark Ballas.

Not only were he and his celebrity partner Shannen Doherty the first to get booted this season on ABC's hit show, but the 23-year-old ballroom vet has also been nursing a knee injury suffered during rehearsals for DWTS.

But is a li'l bruised ego and a bummed leg the only things out of step for Mr. Ballas these days? Nope!

Read on for more tales of the curse...

Less than a year ago, Ballas told us his then-girlfriend, Joanna Pacitti, of American Idol fame, was "definitely the one." Today, Ballas is waltzing to a different beat. "We're no longer together," he told us last night at L.A.'s The Mint, where he was performing songs from his new CD, Waiting for Patience. "I'm back on the market. It just wasn't working out. I'm 23, she's 25. I don't know. It just didn't work out."

The split from his gal-pal isn't the only breakup Ballas has experienced lately. He and best buddy, fellow dancer Derek Hough, are no longer making music together with their pop music group, The Ballas Hough Band. "We were kind of losing the element of having a guitar, and that's kind of what I am," Ballas explained. "I'm a guitar player, so without that, I didn't really want to continue."

We're happy to report, however, that Ballas and Hough, the Ben Affleck and Matt Damon of competitive ballroom dancing are still BFFs.

"He's my best friend," Ballas said. "Blood couldn't make us closer. He's like my brother."