James Van Der Beek and his wife, Kimberly Brook, tragically lost their sixth child when Kimberly miscarried on Nov. 17. He shared the news with fans on the Nov. 18 episode of Dancing With the Stars, and Kimberly took to Instagram afterward to share more harrowing details of the terribly sad ordeal. “We lost our baby boy — by the way — and I almost lost my life, which is not a story that has been told,” Kimberly explained. “But at some point, I can dig into the details with you guys about what happened in the emergency room.”
There was more heartbreak for the Van Der Beeks after James shared the tragic news, too, as the actor was eliminated from Dancing With the Stars. He landed in the bottom two with Ally Brooke, and the judges opted to keep Ally in the competition instead. “I’m pretty shocked,” Kimberly admitted in her Instagram video. “It is worth noting that Ally is a beautiful dancer and we love her like family. She tried to give her spot to James. She tried quitting the show, little angel. But yeah, I’m not really ready to talk further about everything yet, but at some point, I will.”
This is not the first time that James and Kimberly have dealt with a miscarriage tragedy. Back in Sept. 2018, Kimberly revealed that she has previously miscarried three times, and the couple has been open about what they’ve been through. Still, nothing could prepare them for just how devastating and terrifying it would be this time around.
“We’ve been through this before, but never this late in the pregnancy, and never accompanied by such a scary, horrific threat to [Kimberly] and her well-being,” James wrote on Instagram after the miscarriage news broke. “Grateful that she’s now recovering, but we’ve only just begun unpacking the layers of this one.”
Of course, Kimberly was not in the ballroom to watch James dance during the Semifinals on Nov. 18, but the pair’s oldest daughter, Olivia, 9, was there to cheer him on. Olivia did not hide her emotions after her father shared the family’s sad news, and was seen breaking down in tears after his dance.