A dance for two. James Van Der Beek and wife Kimberly Van Der Beek surprised the contestants of Dancing With the Stars by coming back for the Monday, November 25 finale, following James’ announcement on November 18 that his wife had suffered a miscarriage.
When the Dawson’s Creek alum, 42, and his wife of nine years, 37, arrived at the DWTS finale on Monday, a source told Us Weekly exclusively that “a crew member just greeted her and gave her a long hug.” Kimberly, who revealed that she almost died after losing the couple’s sixth child, sat at the back section facing the stage, the source told Us and she appeared “to be upbeat” when talking to the crew member.
DWTS finalist and former Bachelorette Hannah Brown “saw Kimberly from the dancer’s box and reached her arm over to where Kimberly was sitting,” the eyewitness told Us. “They held each other’s hands as they spoke and looked happy to see each other again. Hannah also waved to Kimberley’s daughter, Olivia, who was excited to see Hannah.” James later danced with the rest of the season 28 cast during a number by Pitbull and Ne-Yo.
Before the episode aired, the Vampirina actor — who was eliminated from the show in a shocking judges’ decision on November 18 — addressed his fans in a series of Instagram Stories videos.
“First off I want to thank everybody for all the support and the love that you guys have sent my way and my family’s way. It really helps. We so appreciated hearing all the messages of support, of love,” the actor said backstage at the show.
The Varsity Blues star continued to show his fans love in another clip. “Some of you sharing your stories about miscarriage and some of you saying that us sharing kind of helped out in some way. We appreciate all of it. We’re just awash of gratitude. Thank you everybody for your outpouring of emotion and support for us,” he said.
The actor might not be in the finals, but he wouldn’t have traded his family time for anything.
“I will say there is no trophy in the world that I wouldn’t have traded to be home with my family this week. A hundred percent and everybody in the finals worked really hard,” he said. “I think this show might have a little soul-searching to do when we pick up all the confetti, but right now I want to throw my support to everybody in the finals. You guys worked hard, you deserve to be there.”
He also shared videos with finalist Ally Brooke, who had tried to give him her finals spot on November 18 after his elimination.
James and Kimberly have five children together, Olivia, 9, Joshua, 7, Annabel, 5, Emilia, 3, and Gwendolyn, 17 months.
