'Dancing With the Stars' Favorite Gained 45 Pounds Due to Scary Kidney Illness

Gymnastics star Suni Lee has had a challenging year.

By Brian Jones

An Olympic champion and Dancing with the Stars alum is opening up about her health. USA Today recently spoke to Suni Lee about how she gained 45 pounds this year due to an unspecified illness involving her kidneys. 

"I couldn't fit into any of my clothes," Lee told USA Today. "My eyes were swollen shut. It was just so scary." In April, Lee announced she was ending her collegiate gymnastics career at Auburn because of a kidney issue. "I haven't had a really bad day in a while," Lee said at the Universal Studios lot in Southern California last week. "But in the beginning, it was like I was waking up swollen. My fingers were so swollen they wouldn't fit into my grips and I couldn't hold on to the bar. …My whole body was swollen because I was retaining water, so I couldn't do a flip. … So it was really different and I had to learn how to work through it."

Lee has not revealed the details of her kidney issue but did say she changed her diet which has helped her get back on track. "We're still working on trying to figure out how to balance all of it because I do have good days and bad days," she said. "But with the good days I just take advantage of what I'm able to do, and on the bad days I just do basics and try and stay as safe as possible."

Lee returned to gymnastics competition in August and earned a bronze medal at the U.S. Championships. However, the 20-year-old declined to take part in the World Championships. "I just decided that I didn't want to rush into it and push my body and even risk something happening to be able to prepare for the Olympic year," Lee explained. 

During the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Lee won the gold medal (all-round), silver medal (team) and bronze medal (uneven bars). Lee is the first Hmong-American person to compete in the Olympics and is the first woman of Asian American to win the Olympic all-around title. During her time at Auburn, Lee won the balance beam national title and came in second in the all-around event during the 2022 NCAA Championships. She competed in the 30th season of Dancing with the Stars and came in fifth place. 

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