Mark Ballas may not be competing on the next season of Dancing With the Stars, but that won't stop him from placing his bets on who might win!

Ballas is sitting out of the upcoming 23rd season of Dancing With the Stars but he thinks he has a good grasp on who might take home the Mirrorball trophy. For the time being, he is picking Marilu Henner and Derek Hough and Laurie Hernandez and Val Chmerkovskiy as possible frontrunners.

"To be honest, I am not one who likes to pick a frontrunner on paper because the show has changed so much," Ballas admitted to HollywoodLife.com recently. "But now it is about so much more then just being a good dancer. I think on paper Laurie and Val are going to be great. I think Derek's back, he's a fan favorite, he's incredible, very creative! I think he will do well with Marilu."

Older celebrities like Henner traditionally haven't done as well as their younger competition in years past, but Ballas thinks she has what it takes.

"She is a little older then some of the other contestants, but I think if someone is going to be a little older and do mind-blowing things it will be her!" Ballas said. "So I think those two will be really good. And there are some really interesting characters. Babyface I am excited to see. It is going to be interesting!"

Some of those "interesting" characters Ballas speaks of include failed presidential candidate Rick Perry, scandalous Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte, infamous one-hit wonder Vanilla Ice and frequent tabloid fodder Amber Rose. Other celebs who will be dancing this fall include race car driver James Hinchcliffe, former NFL wide receiver Calvin Johnson, actor Jake T. Austin, singer Jana Kramer, actress Maureen McCormick and reality star Terra Jolé.

Dancing With the Stars season 23 premieres Monday, Sept. 12 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.

Tags: Dancing with the Stars Reality TV ABC