Did Mark Ballas Pull Strings to Get Pia on Dancing With the Stars?

How did a former AI contestant get a gig on DWTS? Plus, Petra tells us about her elimination-night experience

In Hollywood, it's all about who you know. Tonight, we got elimination results and the news that Mark Ballas' "good friend" Pia Toscano would be performing next week. We couldn't help but wonder: Did Mark use some of his Dancing With the Stars pull to get Pia a performing spot?

Don't worry, we asked him all about it after the show. Plus, how did Petra Nemcova and Dmitry Chaplin feel about the rocky performance night that led to their elimination?

So did Mark work his magic on the DWTS bosses so his lady friend could sing while he performed a dance number? "I wish I could work my magic with the producers," Mark laughed. "No, I have no say in these things. I show up to my rehearsals on time, where I'm meant to be. And that's that."

That's that, folks. You heard it here right from the dancer's mouth. And don't for one second think that Mark will be dancing solo to Pia's song as some form of dedication to her. "I'm dancing with Karina [Smirnoff], so that should be awesome, because she is awesome. Both of them are awesome. Awesome vocalist, awesome dancer, so I'm excited," Mark told us. Could somebody get him a new descriptive word? Awesome. Thanks so much.

Unfortunately, Petra and her partner Dmitry did not make it through to next week. But the supermodel is simply happy to have had the chance to dance at all. "There's a time for everything. For me, being here was [about] raising awareness for children who need help and about the Happy Hearts Fund. And that has been achieved," Petra says to us. "So many people have learned what we do. Now it's a new chapter. Now I'm going to go and help build new schools. That's an amazing chapter to start."

As if she couldn't get more amazing, Petra turned to her partner to shower her gratitude toward him, who gave it right back. "You helped me to work with you. I'm really proud of you for what you achieved already," Dmitry told her. "The first day you couldn't take a step properly without losing your balance and falling over. And now you're dancing! You're doing all these numbers. It's a huge achievement in my eyes."

We're not the only ones who will be missing the beautiful Petra. "Not only is she a supermodel, but she is the sweetest person," Kym Johnson gushed. "It's so nice having her around. She was my girl crush! She's just beautiful. She's really going to be missed." Chelsea Kane echoes Kym's sentiments: "She's even more beautiful on the inside than she is on the outside, which is saying a lot. She's incredible."

We couldn't agree more.