Selma Blair announced her departure from Dancing with the Stars after she faced complications pertaining to her multiple sclerosis diagnosis.
Dancing with the Stars returned with its thirty-first season in September 2022. One of the fan-favourite dancers this season was American actress, Selma Blair, who touched the hearts of her fellow contestants and the general viewing audience with her heart-warming story.
In 2018, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis after what she cited as a 10-year battle with the chronic illness that had gone undiagnosed until in 2018, when her journey to healing began.
However, it seems that complications pertaining to the chronic illness, which were brought on by dancing, is the reason she had to step down from the dancing competition show.
Tyra Banks gets flack during Selma’s departure
Tyra Banks was introduced as the host of Dancing with the Stars in 2020, which has since been a polarising decision for viewers of the ABC and Disney+ dancing competition show.
Banks has continually faced backlash for her hosting of the show, whether it is due to her wardrobe or her presenting ability, especially for a live show.
Hence, viewers could not help but disparage the manner that Banks handled Selma Blair’s touching and highly emotional departure.
Not only did Banks get Blair’s partner’s name, Sasha Farber, wrong, calling him Artem, but she also suggested that Blair “takes her time” when she was heading upstairs. Some viewers believe that Banks sullied an emotional moment.
Why did Selma leave Dancing with the Stars?
During the pre-recorded clips of Selma Blair’s rehearsal for season 31, episode four, which was themed “Disney Night”, Blair broke the news to her dance partner that she needed to bow out from the competition.
Coming in already limping, as Sasha expressed his concerns about her limping, Blair shared, “I’ve been monitored and in touch with my doctors this whole process. I had these MRIs and the results came back, and it just all adds up to, I can’t … I can’t go on with the competition.”
She cited that while dancing is a new passion that she had found, it has caused her bones to swell and become painful due to the pressure that they are put under. As such, she could not continue without risking further complications.
But the actress did end the pre-recorded clip by telling her partner that she was looking forward to one last “gentle” waltz with Farber which they performed to the classic ballad, What the World Needs Now.
The performance was an emotional tear-jerker that caused the judges, fellow contestants, and the entire room of audience members to cry after Blair and Farber had completed their dance.
The couple got a warming rounding comment from judge, Carrie Ann Inaba, when she stated, “Together (Blair and Farber) you have inspired us all”.
Sasha Farber on dancing with Selma
Sasha Farber was beloved for the care and understanding way that he had treated Selma Blair during their time on Dancing with the Stars, which was even more touching when Blair announced that she would have to bow out of the dancing competition due to complications with her MS, with Farber merely stating that her health comes first.
Following their final dance as competitors for the title in season 31, Farber thanked Blair for inspiring him with her story and added, “She is a wonderful mother, an iconic actress, and a beautiful dancer now”.
Selma Blair on continuing dancing after leaving Dancing with the Stars
Selma Blair might have had to bow out of Dancing with the Stars due to the pressure the competition show put on her bones, but her exit does not mean that she did not learn a lot during her time on the show, as she cited that dancing gave her something she “couldn’t get in physical therapy or through zoom therapy with my body and balance”.
As such, during the media press briefing afterwards, she asserted that she plans to find ways to keep on dancing in her private life.
Will Selma return to Dancing with the Stars?
While it was bittersweet seeing Selma Blair and dancer partner, Sasha Farber, bow out of the competition prematurely, with Blair asserting that she plans to continue finding ways to dance in her personal life after she discovered the benefits of the discipline, it may be possible that we see her again in the Dancing with the Stars ballroom.
This is as judge Derek Hough did tell reporters that he plans to bring Blair back for the season finale and choreograph a dance for the two of them.
