Not Everyone’s a Winner! See Every Celebrity Who Had to Drop Out of ‘Dancing With the Stars’

Christie Brinkley

Even though Christie was replaced by her daughter, it would be a little hard for her to clap for Sailor in the audience. The PR team for DWTS revealed the model suffered a bad injury to her arm during rehearsals and will have to undergo surgery.

“She is unable to continue her planned participation on the show,” they said. “We wish Christie a full and speedy recovery and look forward to seeing her in the audience, whenever possible, proudly supporting Sailor.”

Nancy O’Dell

Just like Christie, Nancy, had to call it quits before the show even began! Right before season 8 premiered, Nancy tore her meniscus and had to undergo surgery, therefore dropping out of the competition.

“Beyond disappointment doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel about not being able to continue on Dancing with the Stars,” she said at the time in a press release issued by the network. “It has been one of my favorite shows since season 1! But I have torn the meniscus in my knee in two places, which requires surgery. Dancing with the Stars was a great experience. I’ll miss working with my partner, Tony Dovolani.”

Tamar Braxton

In 2015, Tamar had to end her journey on DWTS early. Unfortunately, after going to the hospital, her doctors found “blood clots in both sides” of her lungs and that was when Tamar knew she couldn’t continue.

“I regret to inform you that my season of #dwts has to come to an end,” she wrote via Instagram at the time. “As you all know I will be the first to always encourage anyone to push through any obstacle that comes along one’s way. But in this case, my health is my current obstacle. And in TRUE #tamartian form I must go about this the exact same way as I would anything else.”

Dorothy Hamill

Dorothy is another athlete whose journey was cut short on DWTS. After injuring her back, she was forced to drop out of the competition and focus on her health. The Olympic figure skater was on season 16 of DWTS.

Kim-Zolciak-Biermann

If there’s one thing the producers of DWTS are serious about, it’s following the rules! During season 21, the former Atlanta housewife was disqualified for missing out on a performance when her doctor would not let her fly from Atlanta to Los Angeles. Apparently, Kim suffered a mini stroke at the time and was unable to keep up with the show’s demanding schedule.

Misty May-Treanor

Things turned bad for Misty during the third week of DWTS season 7. She surprised everyone when she revealed she broke her leg during rehearsals. “I heard a pop. I was doing the Lindy Hop. I thought I flew out of control and hit the judges’ stairs, or it felt like I got hit in the back with a baseball bat,” the three time Olympic gold medalist said while on stage. “Then, I just couldn’t put weight on it.”

Billy Dee Williams

On season 18, fans had to stop cheering for Billy when the actor began to experience chronic back pain from the rigorous routines. Thankfully, he’s doing a lot more better today, but due to his health, he never got to see how far he could go on DWTS.

Sara Evans

Season 8 of DWTS was a hard time for fans because that’s when Sara had to drop out due to personal reasons. Even though she didn’t give a lot of details about her exit at the time, she ended up filing for divorce from her first husband, Craig Schelske, just days after her departure. It was assumed that she wanted to be there for her kids during that rough time in their lives. Now, Sara is married to her second husband, Jay Barker.

Romeo

If you love to watch Romeo perform on stage, then you must’ve been really disappointed when he didn’t compete in season 2 of DWTS.  Unfortunately, the young rapper suffered an injury before the show even began, so his father, Master P, took his place on stage.

However, Romeo did return to compete on DWTS for season 12. He came in 5th place.

Jewel

In 2009, Jewel had to quit DWTS when she learned she had a fractured tibia in both of her legs. Devastated, the singer told her fans that she was sorry she could not continue. “When the doctors told me my injuries were so severe that I couldn’t walk, let alone compete, I was devastated that I couldn’t continue the show,” she said at the time.

Who knows? If Jewel wasn’t injured, she could have possibly won the whole thing!

Tom Delay

Even as a politician, Tom didn’t win season 9 of DWTS. His doctor wouldn’t let him compete, after he suffered a stress fracture in his foot. He did, however, perform one last time before making his final exit off the show.