Carlos & Alexa PenaVega Recall How ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Strained Their Marriage

Carlos and Alexa PenaVega have mixed feelings about their time on Dancing With the Stars.

The actors made history as the first married couple to compete on the ABC series during Season 21 in 2015. Alexa placed sixth with her partner, Mark Ballas, while Carlos and his partner, Witney Carson, finished fourth.

The couple reflected on the ups and downs of their DWTS experience and how it affected their marriage on the latest episode of their LexLos podcast. “Guys, Dancing with the Stars sucked for my wife, and it was my fault,” Carlos admitted to listeners.

After being approached to compete on the show as individuals in the past, Carlos said it was exciting when they were asked to compete against each other on the same DWTS season. “I remember calling my mom because my mom was obsessed with the show. And I was like, ‘Hey, what do you think?’ She flipped out,” Alexa recalled. “She was like, she goes, ‘You do it, you do that show for free.’ She was so excited.”

Looking back on the show, Carlos said the experience came with good and bad “baggage.” Alexa agreed, stating, “I would say my experience on the show was as good as it was bad. … I would have had so much more fun on the show if it were not for Carlos. And that’s the truth. Carlos was really competitive and very jealous, and he was doing the show with me.”

Adam Taylor/©ABC/Courtesy Everett Collection

Carlos confessed it would have been harder for him to watch Alexa, whom he wed in 2014, perform “sensual” dances with her partner if he hadn’t been doing the same with his own. “Thank God that we did it together because I would not have been able to handle it,” he stated.

Though Alexa praised Ballas and Carson as “incredible, respectful partners,” she said drama between the pros made things difficult for her and Carlos. “At the time, Witney and Mark were not getting along at all, so they refused to be in the same room together. And that was really hard because we’re married, and the whole point that we were doing the show was we’re going to go in and we’re going to do this together as much as possible,” she said. “And the second we go in, boom, Mark and Witney refused to be in a room together.”

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The couple wanted to use their time on the show to highlight marriage. “We feel like so many people look at marriage as this ball and chain, and they don’t see the beauty in it. So, we want to go in and shine a light on marriage,'” Alexa noted.

However, the show’s competitive nature challenged their mission. “[Alfonso Ribeiro says to me,] ‘Here’s the deal, Alexa. You and Mark can win this. You and your husband can’t.’ And basically was like, ‘You need to focus on Mark,'” Alexa shared. “And I took that really hard because I’m like, ‘My husband’s going to come way before Mark. Like, love you, Mark, but this is my real partner. This is my dance partner.'”

Adam Taylor/©ABC/Courtesy Everett Collection

Alexa said she ultimately felt bad for how she treated Ballas at the end of their DWTS journey. “Watching our elimination, it made me sad for Mark because I was so worried about catering to you — this isn’t me getting mad at you — but I was so worried about catering to you and to your feelings and everything,” she told Carlos. “I left Mark in the dust over and over and over again.”

In the end, Alexa and Carlos are happy to have shared their DWTS journeys with each other. “We had so much fun together, and it was over. And it was over like this,” Carlos stated. “It was hard, but what an experience that we got to do together.”

Dancing With the Stars, Season 35, Tuesdays, 8/7c, ABC and Disney+