Totally transformed! Chrishell Stause is proud of how strong her muscles have become from her Dancing With the Stars training — especially in her legs.
“I’m just saying, I was shaving the other day and I was like, ‘What is this strand on the back of my leg?’ I’m excited,” the Selling Sunset star, 39, told Us Weekly and other reporters after hitting the ballroom on Monday, October 19, with partner Gleb Savchenko. “As much as I want to tell you about my journey … the back of my legs, I’m like, ‘What is happening?’”
The Kentucky native “ran track all through high school” but admitted she’s “never seen” such prominent definition in her leg muscles as she’s seeing now. “Please vote [for us] because I don’t want it to go away!” she joked alongside the ballroom pro, 37. “I love it. I’m having fun. As soon as I get kicked off the show, it’s probably going to go away.”
Stause gave an emotional performance on Monday night dedicated to her late parents, who both died of lung cancer. Her father, Jeff, passed away in April 2019, while Ranae, her mom, succumbed to the illness earlier this year. The song she danced to on Monday, “Stars” by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, holds a special place in the realtor’s heart.
“It was one of the songs I listened to on repeat when I was dealing with the loss of my parents,” Stause said during her rehearsals, reflecting on her mom’s memory. “Right before I dance, I really feel her calm me [and] encourage me. That has been the most special thing that I will take away from this show. … This dance is for them.”
Following the death of her mother in July, Stause admitted that she was hesitant to accept the challenge of dancing on national TV. However, she had a feeling that taking the stage would make her mom proud.
“There was definitely that moment where something so unexpected — where you have that moment of pause,” the former soap actress told Us and other reporters in September. “But if I’ve learned anything this year in losing my mom, is that life [is] short. We don’t know how long we’re here for and you have to make the most of it. … [My mom] would have been the first person to tell me to get out there and give it your best shot.”
The Days of Our Lives alum has faced a number of ups and downs over the last year, including her November 2019 split from Justin Hartley, who filed for divorce after two years of marriage. Earlier this year, a source told Us exclusively that Stause “was knocked sideways for a while” by the “roller-coaster” of emotions she felt after her split, but she’s “looking forward to finding love again someday.”
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