Selma Blair Opens up About Ditching Her Cane on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Debut

Dancing With the Stars Season 31 debuted on Monday night, and one of its many talented contestants is actress Selma Blair, who revealed in 2018 that she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Now, the Cruel Intentions star has opened up about her first DWTS performance, which included ditching the cane she uses on a regular basis. Speaking to Entertainment Tonight reporter Matt Cohen, Blair said “it means everything” that she was able to trade her cane for the chance to lean on her dance partner Sasha Farber instead.

“I am a vulnerable person now out here, you know, with some differences I have or weakness,” Blair added. “I really never thought I would be able to dance, like, with both my feet.” She went on to say that it “means so much to be able to lean on someone for my balance,” crediting her partner with providing a sense of stability physically and emotionally. “It’s such a joy and I hope that we can all see that we can do things out of our comfort zone and it might not look like everybody else, but it’s still an incredible feeling.”

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In a previous conversation with ET ahead of the DWTS premiere, Blair shared what it is like to compete while living with MS, a nerve disorder that causes disruption in the connection between the brain and body and impacts mobility. Blair explained that the dancing is actually not as challenging as some would expect. “Walking is much harder for me than when I can get into the groove of settling into dance and fluidity,” she said.

“There is something when the nervous system and brain are calm,” Blair explained, revealing that her symptoms worsen when she’s feeling anxiety, which has led her to utilize her practices with her DWTS as a form of therapy. “This is an amazing lesson to use my emotions and body together to unite a little more with the support of Sasha and music,” she said. “Amazing things can happen and I hope that I can be an inspiration.”

Blair first shared the news of her MS diagnosis back in late 2018. A few months later, in February 2019, The Legally Blonde star sat down with Good Morning America correspondent Robin Roberts and shared what happened when doctors confirmed her illness. “I had tears,” she said. “They weren’t tears of panic, they were tears of knowing that I now had to give in to a body that had loss of control and there was some relief in that.”

“There were times when I couldn’t take it and I was really struggling with how I’m going to get by in life,” she confessed, then going on to note that she felt like she was “not being taken seriously” by previous medical professionals whom she’d consulted with. “I dropped my son off at school a mile away and before I got home I’d have to pull over and take a nap … it was killing me,” she recalled of the time before knowing exactly what was wrong with her body. “And so when I got the diagnosis, I cried with relief.” Dancing With the Stars premieres Mondays at 8 p.m. ET., only on Disney+.