Dancing with the Stars performing celebrity James Van Der Beek shared both heartbreak and pregnancy joy in a pre-taped package that aired just before his upbeat quickstep performance alongside pro Emma Slater to the tune “Walking on Sunshine.”
The former Dawson’s Creek star dropped the news that his wife Kimberly was expecting the couple’s sixth child.
He also revealed that he and his wife had also experienced three miscarriages together as they grew their beautiful brood. Their children include daughters Olivia, 9, Emilia, 3, Annabel Leah, 5, and Gwendolyn, 1 and a son Joshua, 7.
Shortly after his Dancing with the Stars announcement, where the family joined Kimberly at the doctor and the baby’s first ultrasound was shared on the series, the television personality shared the big news to his Instagram account with a photo that showed off all his kids, his stunning wife, and the family’s amazing news.
James wrote a heartwarming caption on Instagram alongside the sweet shot of his entire brood. He also explained his choice to share something so personal with his Dancing with the Stars family.
He revealed that he never thought that sharing a pregnancy ultrasound on television was something his family would ever do. Yet, he realized that sharing the happy news and the couple’s past sorrows would shed a light on an important aspect of pregnancy that many couples do not speak about, miscarriage.
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James shared that he and his wife experienced three miscarriages and that the joy of hearing a heartbeat is both a relief and a thrill. By sharing this information, he is hopeful to use his Dancing with the Stars platform to shed a light on this common heartbreak and destigmatize it, revealing a need for “zero shame” around miscarriages and that parents should give themselves “space to grieve.”
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James regularly shares photos of life in the Van Der Beek household, a busy but happy place where the kids are the center of the family.
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People Magazine reported that James called his family “a bunch of fun-loving kids.” He also revealed that one way to have fun as a family is by dancing.
“We dance all the time in the house. We just put some music on and all of them dance.”
The Inquisitr previously reported that in a strange twist, James appeared on Dancing with the Stars before, but not in the way you’d expect. James was an actor on the series Don’t Trust the B— in Apartment 23, which was an ABC comedy that ran for two seasons. James played himself on the series, but an alternate version of his nice-guy personality, more vain and narcissistic.
During the Season 1 finale of the series in 2012, James was cast on Dancing with the Stars in character alongside series guest-star Dean Cain. He and the former Superman television hero came to blows over who had the larger dressing room in a sequence of hilarious scenes.
Dancing with the Stars airs Mondays at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.
