During Monday’sDancing with the Starssemifinals episode, Van Der Beek announced that Kimberly suffered a miscarriage over the weekend.
“You never know why these things happen, that’s what I’ve been telling my kids. All you know is that it brings you closer together, it breaks you open, it opens up your heart, it deepens your appreciation,” said Van Der Beek. “It makes you more human.”
Although Van Der Beek admitted that he didn’t think he’d be dancing on Monday evening, he chose to compete for Kimberly, who pushed him to continue in the competition.
“Kimberly, I love you,” said Van Der Beek, who dedicated the dance to his wife: “Kimberly, I’m dancing for you, I’m dancing for us, so here we go, babe.”
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Audiences watched as Van Der Beek danced a touching Foxtrot to Hozier’s “Take Me to Church.” After his performance, Van Der Beek wept as pro partner Emma Slater embraced him on the ballroom floor.
“Kimberly, I love you. Thank you for pushing me out on that dance floor,” the actor said in a sweet shout-out to his wife before judges awarded him and Slater a 27/30. “Thank you for everything you do. I don’t know how you do it. Five kids. You’re amazing.”
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“Grateful that she’s now recovering, but we’ve only just begun unpacking the layers of this one. Thank you to all of our friends and co-workers (and dance partners) who have shown up for us so beautifully during this time. As many of you have said, ‘There are no words…’ and it’s true. Which is why in a time like this it’s enough to know that you’re there. Grieving AND counting our blessings today,” wrote Van Der Beek.
Before he announced the devastating news onDWTS, Kimberly hinted at the tragedy on social media.
“It was a TOUGH weekend,” she wrote on Instagram earlier Monday. “Extra thankful right now to have help with my kids. Keeping these cuties happy as can be while I replenish at home.”
TheDawson’s Creekalum, 42, and Kimberly are parents toGwendolyn, 16 months,Emilia, 3½,Annabel Leah, 5½, andOlivia, 9, plus big brotherJoshua, 7½.
Van Der Beek revealed the couple’s pregnancy news on Instagram Oct. 7, sharing that he and Kimberly, 37, were “thrilled beyond belief to announce that another little bundle of joy has picked us to be their family.”
ThePoseactor went on toexplain in the captionthat he and Kimberly decided to share the news onDancing with the Starsafter his wife suffered a number of miscarriages.
“Miscarriage (a word that needs a replacement — nobody failed to ‘carry,’ these things sometimes just happen) is something that people rarely talk about, and often go through in secret. But there needs to be zero shame around it, or around giving yourself the time and space to grieve,” Van Der Beek continued.
“We decided to put ourselves out there — not knowing what we’d find — in an effort to chip away at any senseless stigma around this experience and to encourage people who might be going through it to open themselves up to love & supportfrom friends and family when they need it most,” the actor added. “Happily, for us — this time — we walked out [of the ultrasound appointment] with tears of joy.”
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During that night’s episode ofDWTS, Van Der Beek told PEOPLE that revealing the news on the reality competition show was “thrilling” and that they decided to get Kimberly’s first ultrasound “on camera, to open it up and allow people to go through the experience — good result or not good result.”
“It’s a part of life,” he continued. “It really helps to go through when you have the support of friends and family. People so often go through it in secret. You need toallow yourself space to grieve and go through it. For us, we walked out incredibly happy and excited.”
When asked howhe and his wife of nine yearsdealt with the heartbreaking miscarriage news, Van Der Beek said, “The only advice I have is that you can’t reason your way out of it and you can’t talk your way out of it. You just have to let yourself go through it and go through the journey and be there for each other.”
“Know that you can’t judge the pain, you can’t judge the process,” he added. “For us, thankfully, we also have three rainbow babies. It’s life. And also,don’t be afraid to talk about [it]. There’s a weird stigma that might still exist around it … things like that is when you need your family and friends.”
source: people.com
