"Dancing With the Stars" professional dancer Derek Hough lashed out at the media on Monday for making tales from his upcoming book "Taking the Lead: Lesson from a Life in Motion" seem negative.

In a Tuesday article titled "More Shocking Allegations: Derek Hough Claims Pal Mark Ballas' Mom Shirley Slapped Him While Living With The Family In London As A Child," tabloid website Radar Online reported on an excerpt from Hough's book, claiming that he was "scared" of Shirley Ballas, the mother of fellow "Dancing With the Stars" dancer Mark Ballas, because "if you crossed Shirley you paid a price," as quoted from the book by the website.

The site continued to quote a story from the memoir when a teenage Hough smoked a cigarette in the Ballas' United Kingdom house. He then reportedly denied smoking.

"She raised her hand and slapped it hard across my cheek," he wrote, according to Radar Online. "I swear I almost swallowed my teeth. ... That was the day I learned never to lie to Shirley. ... When I lived with the Ballases, being sick was never really an option. If I had the flu, Shirley would give me a throat lozenge and usher me off on the train to school. There was just no sympathy."

Hough, however, says that the report was misconstrued to make the Ballas parents look bad, when in fact they were loving figures.

"For any media outlet to read and excerpt my upcoming book, Taking the Lead, and to report that I claimed I was mistreated in any way by any member of the Ballas family while they were parenting, loving and teaching me during my years in the U.K. is not only inaccurate, it is also irresponsible, inflammatory and unfair to the people I call my family," the 29-year-old dancer said via Twitter.

Recently, the dancer said he is unsure if he will return to "Dancing With the Stars" for Season 19. Earlier this month Parade magazine asked Hough if he is dancing next season, and he responded with "I don't know yet."

"There are a lot of changes happening right now," the five-time "Dancing With the Stars" champion said. "I'll always be a part of 'Dancing With the Stars.' They're my family, and I love working with them and being part of a show that is so positive. ... We got a new executive producer, so new things are happening, and we'll see what happens."

Season 19 of "Dancing With the Stars" is scheduled to debut this fall.
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Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.

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