Carrie Ann Inaba is back for the 30th season of Dancing with the Stars, but she had to quit her role on The Talk to do so.
Now, Inaba is giving DWTS fans an update on her health, and it sounds like things are improving for the former dancer.
Carrie Ann Inaba updates Dancing with the Stars fans on her health
Carrie Ann Inaba has been a judge on Dancing with the Stars since 2005 and is there for its 30th season.
She also co-hosted the CBS daytime talk show The Talk from 2019 to 2021. However, she realized she couldn’t do both and said that her role on Dancing with the Stars was more important, so she quit that role.
“I never considered stepping back from Dancing With the Stars,” she told Hello!. “Although, I will share that the only way I could do that was to leave The Talk. I was scared. And that fear turned to motivation, and I worked so hard in these last six months to get well again.”
Inaba said that stepping away from The Talk allowed her to focus on her health.
“I started to find what worked for me and I took baby steps back to being able to exercise again with the help of my doctors and my trainer Michelle Lovitt,” Carrie Ann explained. “And now I’m feeling healthier than I have in years.”
Carrie Ann Inaba’s health problems
This is because Inaba has a series of health problems that have added up over the years.
Inaba was diagnosed with chronic pain, autoimmune diseases, and health issues, including lupus, Sjögren’s syndrome, fibromyalgia, iron deficiency anemia, depression, and anxiety.
Part of the chronic pain was caused by spinal stenosis, which Inaba said started when she injured her neck while doing gymnastics as an eight-year-old.
Sjögren’s syndrome is an autoimmune disease that destroys moisture-producing glands.
Inaba announced her Lupus diagnosis in 2019.
In 2020, Carrie Ann Inaba tested positive for COVID-19.
Despite her health afflictions throughout her life, Carrie Ann Inaba worked as a dancer for many years, including as one of the Fly Girls on In Living Color and as a solo dancer for a Madonna tour.
She has also worked in choreography for years on shows like American Idol, the Miss America Pageant, and she worked as a judge in the 2009 USA Dance National Dance Sport Championships.
Dancing with the Stars airs on Monday nights at 8/7c on ABC.