In a shocking twist of events, frontrunner James Van Der Beek was eliminated from the competition during Monday’s semifinal event on “Dancing with the Stars.”
Shortly before his second and last dance of the night, James revealed to the audience that he almost bowed out of the competition over the weekend when his wife, Kimberly, had a miscarriage. James and his wife were expecting their sixth child when she tragically lost the baby on Saturday.
The former star of “Dawson’s Creek” told the nation that it was every parent’s worst nightmare. He said that while the incident was devastating, it has brought him and his family closer together. After sharing his news, James took to the stage to dance the tango to “Take Me to Church.” Following the clearly emotional performance, James scooped up his nine-year-old daughter, Olivia, from the audience and held her while the judges awarded him his scores.
James said that his initial reaction was to quit the show so that he could be there for his wife. However, Kimberly insisted to him that she was not done watching him dance. It was then that he made the decision to persevere.
Later in the night, Kimberly took to her own Instagram to thank everyone for their love. She said that in addition to losing their baby boy, she almost lost her own life while in the emergency room.
Kimberly also added that she was shocked that James was eliminated from the hit ABC dancing competition that same night that he revealed the family tragedy. Up until this point, James and his partner, Emma Slater, had largely been considered the favorites to win the mirror ball.
However, James and Emma ended up in the bottom two of the voting tallies, giving the judges the ultimate decision about what pair to eliminate. In the end, the judges chose to award the final spot in the semifinals to pop singer Ally Brooke and her partner, Sasha Farber.
