Selma Blair pulls out of Dancing With the Stars due to health concerns: ‘My body is definitely taking a hit’

‘It’s way too much for the safety of my bones,’ actor revealed on Monday (17 October)

Selma Blair has withdrawn from Dancing With the Stars, explaining that the competition has had an adverse effect on her health.

The actor, known for her roles in films such as Cruel Intentions, The Sweetest Thing and Legally Blonde, had been a contestant on the current season of the American dance competition show.

She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a chronic condition that affects the brain and spinal cord, in 2018. Symptoms of the condition can include problems with vision, muscle spasms and fatigue.

As a result of mobility issues, Blair often uses a cane for support.

In a pre-packaged piece that aired towards the end of Monday’s (17 October) edition of the show, the actor provided an update on her health since starting the competition.

“I had these MRIs and the results came back and it just all adds up to… I can’t go on with the competition,” she said.

“With a chronic illness, you do have special considerations, and my body is definitely taking a hit. It’s way too much for the safety of my bones. There’s just intensive bone trauma and inflammation … I could do extensive damage that, of course, I do not want.”

As a result, Blair and her professional partner Sasha Farber decided that this week’s dance would be their last in the competition.

They then gave their final performance by waltzing to “What the World Needs Now”, which garnered them a perfect score of 40 from the judges.

Selma Blair and Sasha Farber on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ (ABC/Eric McCandless)

Later, the pair spoke more extensively about their time on the show and their decision to leave. Speaking to Variety, Blair opened up about “risking embarrassment” to take part, and how the experience at large was “gold”.

“I didn’t think I’d even have this earnestness in my lifetime to genuinely want to do this and for risk of embarrassment,” she explained.

“Forgetting my disabilities or my chronic illness, I wasn’t an accomplished dancer at all. So it’s always scary to put it out there. Seeing how every dancer that has come on this show this season has been truly a top-notch star, that makes me realize something really big about our perceptions of people or certain shows or what we think. This is gold here.”

Blair continued: “What these celebrities and pros put together is real passion of some kind of self-love, acceptance and performance. It’s a really wonderful reminder and to be embraced by these people, my heart is broken in the best way.”

One of the actor’s most memorable moments on the programme came when she danced wearing a blindfold as a way of managing sensory overload due to her condition.