Bryan confirms romance with ‘Dancing’ partner

Cheetah Girl was focused on competition, looks forward to dating Ballas

ABC

Now that Sabrina Bryan and Mark Ballas are off “Dancing With the Stars,” the couple plans to get a little closer, Sabrina said.

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updated 5:04 p.m. ET Nov. 5, 2007

LOS ANGELES - After weeks of speculation and brushing off media questions, former “Dancing with the Stars” contestant Sabrina Bryan has fessed up to her feelings for her small screen partner, Mark Ballas.

The Cheetah Girl, who was shockingly ousted from the “Dancing” competition last week, recently told TV Guide that she and Mark were to have their “first date” this past weekend.

“He’s joking that it’s our first date because we’ve always hung out, millions of times, millions of dinners. But this is different,” she told the magazine last week.

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Now that the couple is off the show, the two plan to get a little closer, Sabrina said.

“We’ve been so focused on the competition ... but now that that has died down, we’ll see where it goes,” Sabrina said of their blossoming romance. “We haven’t had a chance to do any of that (dating) or even talk about it. We didn’t even realize that people would think that about us until they started asking us. Because you get so close to someone, you get so comfortable, that you don’t even see it.”

Though their dances on the show were full of passion, fans really didn’t get to see the true depth of their feelings until Sabrina got the boot and she lovingly called Mark “baby” as they said goodbye on air.

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One of the reasons the two appeared to have struck up a romance was the serious amount of time they spent together rehearsing.

“He’s just so close to me,” Bryan said. “I mean, I’m in a music group now with the Cheetah Girls. And one of my biggest fears was stepping away from them and not having someone around me that I felt was my true family. The Cheetah Girls feels like family. And the fact that Mark and I were able to get so close so quickly was so awesome. It made everything so comfortable. It made me able to trust him in ways that would’ve stopped or held back my performances had I not trusted him.”