Dancing With the Stars alum Whitney Leavitt opens up about her “villain" persona

The Dancing With the Stars alum Whitney Leavitt has recently opened up about the ongoing backlash and negative comments that she has been receiving during her dance stint on the show. 

Leavitt rose to fame after appearing on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, as she later acknowledged that the season 3 premiere, which occurred days before she was eliminated, might have led to shifting opinions among viewers. 

Despite all the ongoing drama, Whitney Leavitt told Variety that she would love to return to The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives for its fourth season.

Dancing With the Stars alum Whitney Leavitt opens up about the online hate

Whitney Leavitt admitted that the kind of persona she has been tagged with might stay with her on Dancing With the Stars as well, Leavitt said (via People), 

"I already knew like the persona that I had in the media," Whitney said of being viewed as the "villain" on Mormon Wives. "I just felt like that was gonna carry with me onto Dancing With The Stars."

Leavitt added:

"When you're casted on Dancing with the Stars, you are seeing these people hours every single day. Then it just stops. It genuinely feels like a breakup. It feels like I'm, like, going through withdrawals right now. Today just felt so weird."

Leavitt also admitted that it was hard to watch dance partner Mark Ballas receiving online hate.

"I had experienced it, but having someone that I loved and cared about so much experiencing that, in turn, hurt me," she said. "Then we experienced it together."

Leavitt further explained that at the time, she felt it was her fault because Ballas was paired with her, and she felt “like a roller coaster of emotions during that time."

Mark Ballas revealed a hateful message that he received online

Mark Ballas had also shared one of the many "relentless" comments he received. He said:

“Are you that cheap of a c--- to rot and do this? Damn. You're special. You're completely worthless, and I hope you f------ burn in hell one day."

Ballas also shed some light on their elimination from season 34:

"I think with such a stacked cast and really great talent, great talent all around, you get to the point where we don't know the votes," Mark said. "Maybe some week, someone who's been voting one way will be like, 'You know what? I'm gonna throw these votes this way.'"

DWTS executive producer and president of BBC Unscripted, Ryan O'Dowd, weighed in, implying that the season 3 premiere might have played a role in Leavitt's eventual elimination from DWTS. He said, 

“Obviously, she has ‘Secret Lives of Mormon Wives‘ that just came out that previous week on Hulu. And I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t think that played a role."

Stay tuned for more updates.