Selma Blair’s Sad News: The Star is Forced to Drop Out of ‘DWTS’
The star has departed the reality show due to health problems.
“Dancing With the Stars” aims to include a variety of contestants from all backgrounds, but season 31 saw a big first: actress Selma Blair joined the cast, which began on September 19th, 2022, as the first dancer with multiple sclerosis (MS). After performing in five episodes, she officially announced her volunteer departure from the show on October 17th.
“I pushed as far as I could,” the Hollywood star explained to her dance partner, Sasha Farber, in a pre-taped video which aired during the show. “I’ve been monitored and in touch with my doctors this whole process.”
Blair was diagnosed with the condition, which affects the nervous system, the brain and the spinal cord, back in October 2018. Since then, she has been transparent about the highs and lows of living with MS, while also maintaining a solid star status. She was recently seen walking the white carpet at the 2nd annual Academy Museum Gala — crystal-studded cane and all.
RELATED: Selma Blair Joked That She Thought She Was “Bat Sh*t” Before Getting Her MS Diagnosis
The decision to include Blair as a “Dancing With the Stars” contestant was another positive move for the show to include more diverse cast members. The actresses’s performances were well-received — she and Farber received a perfect score of 40 for her final dance, which was a waltz set to the classic song, “What the World Needs Now.”
However, perfect scores can’t always compete with managing a debilitating disease. Courageous as she was to join the show in the first place, Blair knows herself well enough to put her wellness first.
“I had these MRIs and when the results came back,” she reveals in the video, “It just all adds up to ‘I can’t.’”
“I can’t,” she continues. “I can’t go on with the competition.”
Blair also discussed her love for the show and how positive her experience has been. She said that, while she “wants to represent some people that are taking chances… there are just consequences to any chance you take.”
The 50-year old talent legend is taking time to focus on herself and continue to be an active mother to her son Arthur, who she gave a shout-out to at the end of the show.
Blair isn’t the first contestant on “Dancing With the Stars” to perform with a disability. Over the years, the show has welcomed all-stars like Amy Purdy, a double-amputee paralympic who lost her legs to meningitis at the age of 19, and military veterans J.R. Martinez and Noah Galloway, both who sustained injuries during their time in the field, according to Respectability.org.
Audiences are sad to see Blair go, but she has truly been an inspiration for those living with MS, and other chronic conditions as well.
Your journey on @officialdwts might have come to end, but you continue to inspire the nearly 1 million people with MS in U.S. and countless millions around the world.
Thank you for continuing to share your journey with MS.
— National MS Society (@mssociety) October 18, 2022
As poignantly stated by the National MS Society after her final dance, “Your journey on @officialdwts might have come to end, but you continue to inspire the nearly 1 million people with MS in the U.S. and countless millions around the world. Thank you for continuing to share your journey with MS.”
