Suni Lee had "tears in her eyes" just seconds before her latest performance on Dancing With The Stars. The Olympic gymnast was noticeably sick during Monday night's episode; however, host Tyra Banks assured viewers that Suni's sickness was not COVID-19 related.
Almost every cast for a season of the dancing competition consists of at least one athlete. In the past, there have been numerous gymnasts that take on the ballroom as well. When the cast for Dancing With The Stars season 30 was announced in early September, yet another gymnast was joining the season. Suni was partnered with Sasha Farber. Sasha is typically the professional dancer that is partnered with the gymnasts who compete on the show. Together, their performances have been progressing week by week. Not only have their performances been getting better and better, but the dancing couple is one step closer to winning the Mirror Ball Trophy.
Although Suni has been progressing very well in the dancing competition, she had a rough night in the ballroom this past week. It was quite noticeable to viewers that there was something wrong with Suni during her performance Monday night. Then, the second the music stopped, Suni ran out of the ballroom. Following the live show, Sasha told Access that Suni had not been feeling well all week long. In what was the longest week in the history of Sasha's DWTS career, Suni's stomach was extremely upset during every rehearsal. She was throwing up after nearly every time they ran the dance. Then, just seconds before performing live in the ballroom, Suni "had tears in her eyes" as she began to not feel good yet again.
With just 10 seconds until their performance began, Suni feared she would not be able to make it through the dance. Sasha recalled, "But there was a time when right before the first dance she literally like there’s 10 seconds left, she literally looked at me and had tears in her eyes and went and I went soon she was like, ‘I can’t do it'." Being the good dancing partner he is, Sasha continuously encouraged Suni as they prepared for their dance. Suni managed to compose herself and hold it together for the entire performance before quickly running out of the ballroom. During the post-show interview, Sasha revealed that Suni was already seeing a doctor. He described his partner as a "fighter, warrior, trooper" as he raved over how impressed he was by her considering the circumstances. Not only did Suni pull through for their solo performance, she managed to return to the ballroom for their second dance as well. The Queen Night episode consisted of two performances for each couple, one of which was to earn bonus points from the judges.
Suni and Sasha had missed numerous rehearsals last week due to Suni's illness. Despite all of this, the dancing duo survived yet another elimination. Now that Suni has seen a doctor and has hopefully gotten some rest, she and Sasha can return to their normal rehearsals schedule. The duo, along with the rest of the remaining dancing couples, will return to the ballroom Monday night for another live performance followed by the second double elimination of the season.
Dancing With The Stars airs Mondays at 8pm EST on ABC.
Source: Access, Sasha Farber/Instagram