Selma Blair was recently announced as one of the celebrities competing on Season 31 of Dancing with the Stars. Blair, who lives with multiple sclerosis, recently shared her thoughts on doing the show. She calls the show a “new chapter,” and she’s doing it to inspire people at home.
Selma Blair Talks About Dancing with the Stars
Blair will be dancing with pro Sasha Farber this season. The actress told E! News that she’s “so excited” about joining DWTS, adding, “This is a new chapter of growing my stamina and really healing. Not just healing, but finding strength and support.”
She shared that she’s doing the show “for the viewer,” explaining, “In dark times in my life, there have been people that came forward—strangers on the street or Instagram… I’m doing it for them.”
Blair was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2018. She wrote about her experience with the disease, as well as her struggle with alcohol addiction, in her book Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up, which was published earlier this year.
Blair told E! that it’s important to “expose people to differences of speech or movement.” She added, “It’s for everyone at home that it resonates with.”
SEE ALSO: MEET THE CELEBRITY CAST OF ‘DANCING WITH THE STARS’ SEASON 31
Blair’s Partner Sasha Farber Calls Her ‘Iconic’
Over the weekend, Blair’s dance partner Sasha Farber took to Instagram to share a photo of the actress. On the post, he wrote, “Ok can we just talk about my ICONIC Dancing With the Stars partner, and how awesome she is.” He added the hashtag #teamunderdogs.
“You know, once I actually stood with Sasha and really realized like, ‘Oh, he can help me in general,’ and I am so excited for camaraderie, for support for people,” Blair told Page Six. “I did not realize how much I missed that.”
Blair said in a press conference last week that she’s “feeling great,” adding that she’s “going to have to be careful with stamina.” She explained “There is a chronic illness, real issue. But, like, how do you push yourself without pushing yourself too far learning these things?”
Dancing with the Stars Season 31 premieres Monday, September 19, on Disney+.
