Dancing with the Stars

Our spies say Pia is flying in from New York later in the day and will have several dates with Mark during her stay. And they've already scheduled an evening where Mark's mother, Shirley, will break bread with the "American Idol" castoff.

TMZ broke the story ... Pia and Mark had a hot date last Friday and sucked some serious face. Pia was angling to meet Mark for awhile, and slipped Mark her phone number using "Dancing with the Stars" contestant Chris Jericho as a go-between.

Mark, we're told, is "totally into Pia and thinks she's amazing."

As one spy told TMZ, "They're totally smitten."

TMZ broke the story ... Mark and Pia went on a dinner date in L.A. ... and now we know what they had for dessert -- a big, fat mouthful of each other.

As TMZ first reported, Pia and Mark went out on a date Friday night and it went real well ... so say our spies.

So here's how it went down. Pia and Mark both shoot their respective shows -- "American Idol" and "Dancing With the Stars" -- on the CBS Television City lot in L.A.

We're told Pia had her eye on Mark for several weeks, but needed an introduction. So Pia -- who turns out is pretty resourceful -- has a friend who is friends with Jericho, a contestant on "Dancing With the Stars," Pia gave her friend a piece of paper with her phone number on it, who then passed it along to Jericho, who then passed it on to Mark.

Mark, we're told, was more than receptive. Even though he has an album coming out Tuesday -- he rescheduled a music video shoot so he could go on his big date on Friday.

They were both gussied up as they left Gulfstream restaurant in Century City, as Pia told us she -- like everyone else -- was surprised she got the "A.I." heave-ho.

Until Pia got the boot, they were both rehearsing and shooting their shows next to each other at CBS Television City in L.A.

The former "Dancing With The Stars" contestant became an ambassador for The Candie’s Foundation in 2009 when she was 18 ... just a few months after giving birth to her son, Tripp ... and according to tax documents, the job PAID OFF.

The foundation’s website says Bristol "plays an important role by helping other teens understand the incredible challenges teen parents face, and encouraging them to wait until they are socially and financially independent to start their families.”

Kirstie Alley had to pick herself up off the ground last night after Maksim Chmerkovskiy suffered a "charlie horse" type pain that made his leg give out.

"DWTS" has Wendy toe up from the flo' up!

TMZ has learned ... Maksim's special guest -- a woman named Lisa -- had a VIP parking spot waiting for her when she arrived to the studio ... and was greeted by the "Dancing" star himself.

Sources connected to Lisa tell us ... she was then treated to a full tour of the backstage area where she met Kendra Wilkinson and Tony Dovolani. In fact, Tony even took Lisa to his trailer to hang out and take pictures!!!

The best part -- Maksim is currently getting every single cast member of the show to sign an official "Dancing with the Stars" t-shirt for Lisa which will be sent to her within the next couple of days.

10. 10. 10.

He also talked about something ... maybe the show? ... It doesn't really matter ... you're probably not watching this clip to hear him speak.

Sources connected to the production tell us Maksim had been furiously trying to set up the perfect evening for a special VIP guest ... asking for front row seats for tonight's show along with special backstage passes ... and now we've learned there's a reason he's so motivated.

We're told a friend of Maksim's informed the dancer about a woman who was having a really tough time with recent cancer treatments -- and she happened to be a fan of the show. So Maksim sprung into action, instantly trying to do everything he could to help get her mind off the pain.

Of course, Maksim came through -- and the woman is all set for a night she'll never forget.

Amazing how some people find time for the things that matter.

Chris was scheduled to perform on "Dancing" TWICE during the elimination episode next Tuesday -- but fans of the show are rallying online to make sure that doesn't happen ... overtaking the official "DWTS" message board on ABC.com.

Several users plead openly for ABC to cancel Chris' performance after the singer's outburst this morning -- writing messages like, "Please do not allow him to perform on Dancing with the Stars! I will NOT be watching going forward if you do this."

But it doesn't stop there ... some fans are even contacting ABC directly via email to thwart Chris' performance -- in fact, another person writes, "I just sent an e-mail to ABC about him performing. I truly hope they cancel his appearance."

So we gotta ask ...

TMZ has learned ... Ray will be paired up with Anna Trebunskaya.

Meanwhile, Pittsburgh Steelers superstar Hines Ward will dance with Kym Johnson.

So far, we've confirmed 6 of the 11 celebrities who will appear on the show as well as their partners -- check it out:

-- Chris Jericho & Cheryl Burke
-- Lil' Romeo & Chelsie Hightower
-- Kendra Wilkinson & Louis van Amstel
-- Kirstie Alley & Maksim Chmerkovskiy
-- Wendy Williams & Tony Dovolani
-- Disney star Chelsea Kane & Mark Ballas

"DWTS" will officially announce the celebrity cast tonight during "The Bachelor."

Sen. Bundgaard claims his girlfriend, Aubry Ballard, punched him and tried throwing his things out of his car during the drive home after the event. According to Bungaard, she accused him of "inappropriately touching" his partner during the event, which benefited the National Kidney Foundation of Arizona.

Police arrived on scene to find Bundgaard trying to remove Ballard from the car, which was pulled over on the side of the road.

According to police, both had marks on them -- but only Ballard was arrested because of an Arizona state law that gives him immunity from arrest while the legislature is in session.