How Kimberly & James Van Der Beek Are Holding Up After Her Life-Threatening Miscarriage & His 'DWTS' Elimination
DWTS Judge Carrie Ann Inaba revealed she went home and vomited after this week's elimination.
Instagram The semi-final round of "Dancing With The Stars" is usually some of the most exciting dancing audiences will see in a season.
But this week, the semi-finals took a surprising and sad turn when James Van Der Beek confessed that he had nearly quit the show.
In an emotional video, he shared that his wife Kimberly had suffered a miscarriage a few days before the taping and he had expected to stay by her side instead of returning to the set.
He said he came back to the show at Kimberly's urging and went on to dedicate that night's performance to his wife of almost 10 years.
“Kimberly, I love you,”;he said in the video package before his second dance of the night. “Kimberly, I’m dancing for you, I’m dancing for us, so here we go, babe.”
What happened after that was a shock to audiences and contestants alike.
Who is James Van Der Beek's wife?
1. Who is Kimberly Brook Van Der Beek?
Kimberly Brook,37, is a business consultant and movie producer who married the "Dawson's Creek" star back in 2010.
Van Der Beek was previously married to Heather McComb, whom he divorced in 2010. Shortly after that, he and Kimberly tied the knot at the Kabbalah Center in Tel Aviv, Israel. Kimberly was already pregnant with their first child when they got married.
In an Instagram post on her birthday, James, 42, recalled how he knew Kimberly was the one for him very soon after meeting her, writing, "I knew I was in love pretty much immediately."
Now, as parents of five, the couple is committed to loving and supporting one another and their kids.
2. She and James are the parents of five children
Kimberly and James are proud parents to five Insta-worthy kids. In order of age, the kids are Olivia, 8, Joshua, 7, Annabel Leah, 5, and Emilia, 3, and finally, Gwendolyn, who is almost a year and a half old.
James isn't shy about his commitment to his wife and kids. His social media is littered with photos of his brood and he frequently shares his thoughts on what being a father means to him.
In a recent post he wrote, "For me, being a father means having that quiet little voice inside of you that says 'Be a better man,' get louder and more consistent."
On Mother's Day, he praised Kimberly for her ability to go with the flow as a mom, saying "Her willingness to embrace the truth — and dare give voice to how she understands it at the time — is what makes her my hero. That, and the fact that she grew my five favorite people inside of her, birthed them, fed them, and continues to raise and love and nurture them every day — including the one who woke up vomiting this morning."
As sweet as the sentiments between the two Van Der Beeks are, I think all parents can recognize the reality of waking up to the sound of a sick kid. Even celebrities end up cleaning up after a tummy bug on Mother's Day.
3. They allowed TV cameras into the room for the first ultrasound
With five kids, it's obvious that James and Kimberly are veterans of pregnancy and all that goes along with it. But in addition to the kids they have, they have also shared their experience with pregnancy loss.
In 2018, James took to Instagram specifically to talk about his and Kimberly's experience with miscarriages, He told his followers that he and Kimberly had lost three pregnancies together and he was deeply affected by each loss. "
[I]t will tear you open like nothing else. It’s painful and it’s heartbreaking on levels deeper than you may have ever experienced," he wrote.
Their openness about pregnancy loss was what drove them to share their very personal experience when they announced their sixth pregnancy in the fall of 2019.
James was filming "Dancing With The Stars" when they had an ultrasound appointment and they decided to invite cameras into the room with them. Many couples choose to keep news of pregnancy a secret in the earliest stages because the potential for miscarriage is still high. The Van der Beeks took a different approach, deciding to share that deeply personal moment with audiences.
"We chose to have our first ultrasound on camera with our #DWTS crew capturing the result — something I never thought we’d ever do," he wrote that time, "but [Kimberly] and I have been through three of those first appointments to discover either no heartbeat, or no baby, and she wanted to share this moment. Miscarriage ... 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."
4. Initially good news about the pregnancy took a tragic turn
While James and Kimberly walked out of that ultrasound with nothing but good news, good news for the pregnancy didn't last long.
On this week's broadcast of "Dancing With The Stars,", James shared the unfortunate news that Kimberly had lost the pregnancy.
The show then took a devastating turn for the emotional audience, as James was voted off, much to the shock of his fellow contestants. Singer Ally Brooke, who had shared the bottom two with him, even tearfully offered to give up her spot in the finale so James could continue to dance. He gracefully declined and told her she would crush it.
Visiting the women of "The Talk" the following morning, judge Carrie Ann Inaba revealed that she'd gone home and vomited following the show.
"As a human being, what he and his wife Kimberly suffered is heartbreaking," she said, "and I have so much sadness in my heart for them, and my prayers are with them. But you know, this is where it's really hard. As a judge, I have to judge the dance," Inaba says. "We get to know them, and they become family, and their pain is my pain... I have to judge what's happening on the dance floor."
5. The miscarriage could have cost Kimberly her life as well
What James didn't share during the show is that the miscarriage also posed a severe threat to Kimberly's life.
Kinberly explained the extent of the risk she faced in an Instagram story.
“In 48 hours we lost our baby — boy, by the way — and I almost lost my life. Which is not a story that has been told, but at some point I can dig into the details with you guys about what happened in the emergency room.”
She also shared that her blood pressure has been an issue during her recovery and referred to needing blood transfusions over the weekend.
6. What comes next for the Van Der Beeks?
For any couple healing after the the loss of a pregnancy, allowing themselves the space to grieve is essential. James and Kimberly are being open about their need to take time for themselves and their family to heal and care for one another.
Whether or not they will choose to have more children is no one's business but theirs.
We all wish them the best in this difficult time.
Rebekah Kuschmider has been writing about celebrities, pop culture, entertainment, and politics since 2010. Her work has been seen at Ravishly, Babble, Scary Mommy, The Mid, Redbook online, and the Broad Side. She is the creator of the blog Stay at Home Pundit and she is a cohost of the weekly podcast The More Perfect Union.