Inside Selma Blair's debilitating health battle as DWTS fan-favorite is forced to drop out of competition

SELMA Blair has been forced to pull out of Dancing With The Stars amid her ongoing health battle with multiple sclerosis.

The actress, who disclosed her diagnosis of the disease that affects the central nervous system in October 2018, said on Monday's show that she would have to withdraw from the competition.

"I've been monitored and in touch with my doctors this whole process," Selma, 50, explained.

"I had these MRIs, and the results came back, and it just all adds up to: I can’t ... I can’t go on with the competition," she told her partner Sasha Farber in a rehearsal room in a pre-recorded clip.

She added that she had "pushed as far" as she could before making the heartbreaking decision.

The Cruel Intentions actress has been very vocal about her health struggles on social media since announcing her diagnosis.

Selma found she had multiple sclerosis in August 2018, and for years, she had thought that she was suffering from minor illnesses, or even a pinched nerve.

Selma has said she was inspired to speak out as a way to thank Allisa Swanson, her costume designer, who had become her unofficial "dresser" for her role in the Netflix series Another Life.

She said that it was Allisa who "gets my legs in my pants, pulls my tops over my head, (and) buttons my coats".

Announcing her news on Instagram, Selma wrote: "I have #multiplesclerosis. I am in an exacerbation.

"By the grace of the lord, and will power and the understanding producers at Netflix, I have a job. A wonderful job.

"I am disabled. I fall sometimes. I drop things. My memory is foggy. And my left side is asking for directions from a broken GPS. But we are doing it."

Selma also said in the post that she thinks she could have been suffering from the incurable disease for 15 years before her actual diagnosis.

TREATMENT

In 2019, Selma underwent chemotherapy and a revolutionary stem cell transplant treatment to help with her MS symptoms.

In an Instagram post, which has since been deleted, Selma said she lost her hair during the treatment post and was away from her son Arthur for two months.

And in a separate 2019 post, she told her fans and followers that she had been experiencing vision issues, being unable to focus her eyes due to chemo and high doses of prednisone.

Of course, Selma was forced to stay at home for a lot of 2020 due to the Covid pandemic, but often shared the ups and downs of being in lockdown and living with MS.

That year, she told fans she "was a mess with MS" and couldn't feel her hips or her left leg. But she was still trying to take things slow".

"I will always have MS, I now see. Always. But I am going to learn how to use this body, brain and emotions," she told her 3.1 million followers.

POSITIVE NEWS

By 2021, Selma was in remission and described her prognosis as "great."

Multiple sclerosis cannot be cured, but medicines and other treatments can help ease some of the symptoms.

According to People magazine, Selma said during a Discovery+ TCA panel in support of her documentary: "My prognosis is great. I'm in remission. Stem cell put me in remission.

"It took about a year after stem cell for the inflammation and lesions to really go down."

However, she also said that she was "reluctant to talk about it because I felt this need to be more healed and more fixed."

OPENING UP

In May 2022, Selma released her memoir entitled Mean Baby, which quickly became a New York Times best-seller.

In the book, she spoke openly about how her MS diagnosis had changed her life.

In one excerpt, Selma told readers: "Now finally here it was, my diagnosis was the validation I’d been searching for… that I was human and that it was okay."

Elsewhere in her memoir, Selma opened up about her addiction to alcohol.

ANOTHER BATTLE

One excerpt from the book confirms how young the actress was when she had her first alcoholic drink.

"The first time I got drunk, it was a revelation. I always liked Passover. As I took small sips of the Manischewitz I was allowed throughout the seder, a light flooded through me, filling me up with the warmth of God," she wrote.

"But the year I was seven, when we basically had Manischewitz on tap, and no one was paying attention to my consumption level, I put it together: the feeling was not God but fermentation.

I thought, 'Well, this is a huge disappointment, but since it turns out I can get the warmth of the Lord from a bottle, thank God there's one right here'.

"I got drunk that night. Very drunk. Eventually, I was put in my sister Katie's bed with her. In the morning, I didn't remember how I'd gotten there," she added.

Selma has been sober since 2016 and is often seen walking with a cane due to her MS.

ONWARDS AND UPWARDS

Despite having to pull out of DWTS early, no doubt Selma will remain her positive and upbeat self as she continues to live life with MS.

In September, she received a standing ovation when she appeared at the 2022 Emmy Awards with her cane in hand.

In a gushing post on Instagram the following day, she said: “I never imagined I would walk across that stage and be given the truest gift for me. Love. Applause. Standing along with me."

“I have never been on this stage before. I haven’t had awards like this in my career, but my God, to be recognized by these brilliant talents. And loves. And icons.

"The ones who give us their life for this art. What admiration I have. I am basking in this moment. I thank you for having me. For embracing me. Humbled with gratitude," she added.