Actress Selma Blair has danced with disease staring her in the face until finally, this week, it was time for defiance to give way to reality.
Blair said Monday she is leaving “Dancing with the Stars” due to her health problems, according to CBS.
The actress revealed in 2018 that she was suffering from multiple sclerosis, and had used her participation in the show as one way of showing she would not let it have dominion over her life. But a recent MRI said that it was time for caution.
“The results came back, and it just all adds up to I can’t … I can’t … I can’t go on with the competition,” she said in a tearful video segment with dance partner, Sasha Farber.
“With a chronic illness, you do have special considerations, and my body is definitely taking a hit,” she said.
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“It’s way too much for the safety of my bones. There’s just intensive bone trauma and inflammation among rips and tears,” she said.
For inspiring, for advocating, for dancing-
Thank you, @SelmaBlair https://t.co/2DpSeAsuua
— MS Assoc. of America (@MSassociation) October 18, 2022
She said she would move into a new phase of her life, after one last dance.
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“So I could do extensive damage … That, of course, I do not want. I’ll have to settle in and get back to being a mom and showing them I have to pull back on something that I love doing,” she said.
She told Farber “I really want to have this last beautiful dance with you and bow out.”
In a video of her final dance, she said it was not one just for her.
“This is a dance for everyone that has tried and hoped they could do more, but also, the power in realizing when it’s time to walk away. I am so, so grateful to be able to do one last gentle dance,” Blair said
She and Farber danced to “What the World Needs Now is Love,” earning perfect scores from all the judges.
“This competition is tough for everyone, but if the others have climbed hills, you have climbed mountains,” judge Len Goodman said, according to CBS.
Carrie Ann Inaba likened Blair’s dancing on the weekly show to “a living, breathing, elegantly dancing miracle.”
“You have brought so much awareness for people who struggle with chronic illness, who deal with chronic pain,” she said, according to the CBS report. “You have been nothing but an inspiration and a light to all of us, especially showing other people how anything is possible. … You are a blessing and a gift.”
What the world needs now is the determination, fight, and joy you @SelmaBlair brought to the @officialdwts floor with @SashaFarber.
Your waltz and lift were so beautiful…
Your presence and performances will be missed. Congrats on getting a 40!!!#OneLastGentleDance#Inspiration— Della Crews (@DellaCrews12) October 18, 2022
Farber praised Blair, according to Entertainment Weekly.
“It’s been a hard year and getting to dance with her, she just turned everything the way that it needs to be,” he said. “She’s inspired me again, she’s inspired so many people out there. She is a wonderful mother, an iconic actress, and a beautiful dancer now.”
Blair commented on the bittersweet nature of her farewell to the show.
“The reality is sometimes when you come into things with a chronic illness or a history of a health thing, sometimes you just really have to take care of yourself and it’s not all possible,” she said.
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