'Dancing With the Stars': Suni Lee Opens up About Being 'Embarrassed' After Falling Ill Last Week

By Daniel S. Levine

 Olympian Suni Lee showed off the determination that helped her win a gold medal at the Tokyo Summer Olympics during Dancing With the Stars Monday night, a week after she rushed off the stage after feeling ill. During her pre-dance package, Lee, 18, shared some more details about what happened and how negative tweets hurt her confidence. Her performance on Janet Jackson Night should restore that confidence though since she and Sasha Farber earned a perfect score.

"Last week was rough," Lee said. "I literally ran off the stage on live TV. When I was backstage, I was more embarrassed than anything but I was not about to throw up on national TV." Lee also revealed that she let some of the negative tweets about her dancing and emotions get to her. Farber and Lee then pulled off a perfect samba to "All for You."

During the Nov. 1 episode, Lee ran off the stage after she and Farber finished their dance to "We Will Rock You," leaving Farber to receive comments from the judges alone. She later returned to dance in the relay, and the duo picked up an extra point from judge Carrie Ann Inaba. Farber told Us Weekly they never even got to rehearse the relay dance before the broadcast. Farber encouraged her to take part in the second dance, even though she thought it wouldn't be possible.

"I'm like, 'Let's just chill. We got this. You don't have to rehearse. I'm going to go extra slow. I've got you. I want all your worries, like, let me worry. You just hold on and hold your breath. Don't throw up on me, and we got this," he said.

During the week leading up to Janet Jackson Night, Lee revealed that she still wasn't feeling well. One of her fans asked her how her mental state was on Instagram. "Could defs be better but it's just a lot on my plate all at one time & a lot of things ppl don't know about," she wrote. Aside from DWTS, the gymnast is also studying at Auburn University and is continuing her gymnastics training. Lee won three medals at the Tokyo Olympics - a bronze in uneven bars, silver in the team competition, and gold in the all-around competition. DWTS airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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