Actress Selma Blair had ‘one last sweet dance’ on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ on Monday night after recent health issues forced her out early.
In a video leading up to her latest performance, Blair, who revealed in 2018 that she has multiple sclerosis, said recent MRI results were the reason for her sudden departure, which came just a month after the premiere. of the season.
“The results are back, and it all adds up to the fact that I can’t continue competing,” she said in a tearful conversation with her dance partner, Sasha Farber. She went on to say that “special considerations” need to be made when it comes to chronic illnesses like hers and that her “body is definitely taking a hit.”
Multiple sclerosis, or MS, is an “unpredictable disease” that affects the central nervous system, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. It impacts the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves and can cause sudden numbness, tingling, and pain in the body, among many other symptoms. Since her diagnosis, Blair has often used a cane to help her walk.
“There’s just intensive bone trauma and inflammation among the tears,” she said in the video. “So I could do massive damage which, of course, I don’t want. I’m going to have to settle down and be a mother again and show them that I have to retire from something that I love to do. »
Before leaving, she said she wanted “one last sweet dance” on the show – one dedicated to “everyone who tried and hoped they could do more, but also the power to realize when it’s time to walk away “.
Dancing the waltz to “What the World Needs Right Now Is Love,” she and Farber brought every other dancer on the show to tears, as well as the judges and audience. The fine performance earned a perfect score – 10 across the board – as the judges praised Blair for her grace both on and off screen.
Selma Blair had to bow out of #DancingWithTheStars due to complications from her MS. https://t.co/fH3f78N89a
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) October 18, 2022
“This competition is tough on everyone, but if everyone else has climbed hills, you’ve climbed mountains,” judge Len Goodman said.
Carrie Ann Inaba, who was previously co-host of “The Talk” on CBS, said watching Blair each week “has been like watching a living, breathing, elegantly dancing miracle.”
“You’ve raised so much awareness for people with chronic illness, who have chronic pain,” she tearfully said. “You have been nothing but an inspiration and a light to all of us, especially showing others how anything is possible. … You are a blessing and a gift. »
In a moving interview with ‘Entertainment Tonight’ after the show, with her son Arthur Saint Bleick by her side, Blair said she didn’t know she ‘couldn’t stop’ crying during her final performance. .
“I will really miss loving them. I love these dancers. I love these celebrities. I love Sasha,” she said as her son hugged her. “…It’s a lot of love and walking away, having to let love go on without you, is like ugh.” »
And although she has to step away from the show for her health and well-being, she said joining the show has only helped her improve physically.
“I’m doing so much better, and I never would have had the motivation to push myself this way if it wasn’t for this stuff with Sasha,” she said.
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Li Cohen is a social media producer and trending reporter for CBS News, focusing on social justice issues.
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