Selma Blair Makes Difficult Decision to Leave DWTS After MS Health Concerns

The Cruel Intentions star brought ballroom to tears with her emotional exit.

Selma Blair attends the 2nd Annual Academy Museum Gala at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on October 15, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/Getty Images

Selma Blair is hanging up her dancing shoes after an emotional final routine on Dancing With the Stars. The actress, who has been an inspiration competing with multiple sclerosis (MS), initially broke the news to partner Sasha Farber during a rehearsal for their waltz that aired on October 17. “You know I’ve been monitored and in touch with my doctors this whole process,” she explained. “I had these MRIs. The results came back, and it all just adds up to that I can’t go on with the competition. I pushed as far as I could.”

In order to avoid putting herself at more risk of further damaging her body, she made the hard decision to exit the show and return to mom life to son Arthur, 11, but not before giving it her all one last time. “I really want to have one last beautiful dance with you,” the 50-year-old star continued telling Farber.

In front of a captivated audience, the duo moved elegantly around the ballroom to Andra Day’s “What the World Needs Now,” which brought everyone to their feet and earned a perfect score from judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli and Derek Hough. “It’s so hard for me to take care because I don’t want to,” the Cruel Intentions actress told co-host Alfonso Ribeiro. “I want to be here, but I know, as a mom and as someone who wants to represent people that are taking chances, sometimes there are just consequences to any chance you take, and mine is fine. I’m going to be okay.”

After the score, Blair found her son and the other celebrity contestants for one final send off that left all reaching for tissues. "This competition showed me how much I love to be around people who are trying their hardest," an emotional Blair said. "How much I love to be around music even though I don't have musicality; how much I love to want to do something again."

The Legally Blonde actress first went public with her multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 2018 and revealed at the time that she felt symptoms for a few years prior but equated them to a pinched nerve. “I am in the thick of it, but I hope to give some hope to others. And even to myself,” she wrote in an Instagram post on October 20, 2018. “You can’t get help unless you ask. It can be overwhelming in the beginning. You want to sleep. You always want to sleep. So I don’t have answers… But I am a forthcoming person and I want my life to be full somehow. I want to play with my son again. I want to walk down the street and ride my horse. I have MS and I am ok.”