Heavy/Getty Carrie Ann Inaba returned to social media.
Carrie Ann Inaba has been a judge on “Dancing with the Stars” since season 1, and she has never taken a season off. The DWTS star has always been quite open about physical health issues she has faced in her personal life, but her latest social media post was one filled with hope and inspiration.
Inaba has been diagnosed with lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, and Sjorgren’s syndrome, all of which are autoimmune issues. In July, she told fans 2023 had been an especially challenging year in terms of medical issues.
The “Dancing with the Stars” judge noted she had been diagnosed with Covid at one point in 2023, which was her second time battling the virus, and Inaba had fractured a rib at another point. In addition, she had appendicitis, and Inaba ultimately had to have an appendectomy. In her latest Instagram post, she is sharing some “life lessons” she has learned over the past few months.
Here’s what you need to know:
Carrie Ann Inaba Believes She’s ‘Arrived at the Other Side’
On August 1, Inaba shared a new post on her Instagram page. The video was a compilation of sassy photos showing the “Dancing with the Stars” judge looking healthy and happy, and she added context in the caption of her post.
“After a long period of introspection, excavation, and time spent mostly alone and silent, I have arrived at the other side of what has been a profound journey,” Inaba explained. She acknowledged she still had “many more mountains to climb,” but she also shared she felt “better able to handle whatever comes my way.”
Inaba highlighted her gratitude “for all that is. All that was. And all that will be,” as well. She added a hashtag about “life lessons” at the end of her post.
Inaba received thousands of likes on the post, along with quite a few comments from “Dancing with the Stars” colleagues and supporters. Dancing pro Sharna Burgess left a string of heart emoji as a comment, and former contestant Chrishell Stause posted something similar. “General Hospital” star Finola Hughes added, “You look the more beautiful for it. Journeys are life.”
“You look beautiful & peaceful. Hope you’re feeling as good as you look. Sending love, light & blessings,” commented one supporter.
“Welcome to the other side of a bridge YOU have built @carrieanninaba with enlightenment and a renewed strength,” someone else added. They continued, “You remain an inspiration to me and your beauty is staggering indeed. Blessings extended.”
Inaba Has Embraced Important Realizations
The “Dancing with the Stars” judge added some additional thoughts in a string of Instagram Stories. She first shared a story about how shortly after she had shared her inspirational life lessons post, “the other part of me came out.” Inaba explained she had reached down from her bed to try to fix an electrical cord, and she ended up dropping a flashlight and another item on her head.
Reaching down in such a manner was difficult to begin with, as she admitted, “My core is absolutely non-existent” since her appendectomy. Then, after the incident of dropping items on her head, she had “blood everywhere” and a bump on her head on top of everything else.
In subsequent Instagram Stories, Inaba turned reflective. “One of the things I have thought about is that life is really about unlearning everything that you’ve learned from the sources that you trusted,” she explained. The “Dancing with the Stars” judge continued, “And then it’s a process of going through it. Distilling what works for you. What doesn’t work for you.”
From there, Inaba suggested, people need to claim who they are, and let go of “what is no longer yours, never was.” She promised to expand on those ideas at a later date.