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“Dancing With the Stars” pro dancer Emma Slater has finally spoken out about her divorce from husband Sasha Farber, who is also a pro dancer on the show.
According to multiple sources who spoke to different news outlets, Farber and Slater split in 2022 after four years of marriage, though they have not yet officially filed for divorce. Us Weekly broke the news, with a source telling the outlet, “They’ve been apart for many months now. They both have not been wearing their wedding rings and are each leading a single life … It’s been a difficult time since they really care about each other and have been together for so long.”
A source confirmed the split to E! News.
Now after Farber and his partner Selma Blair had to withdraw from season 31 on October 17 due to Blair’s latest MRI as part of her on-going battle with multiple sclerosis, Extra TV asked Slater about how she’s doing amid the split.
Here’s what she had to say:
Emma Slater Said It’s Been a Tough Year For Everyone
When asked about how she’s coping with her split from Farber, Slater said she’s just trying to “surround [her]self with a lot of friends” and that it’s been a tough year for a lot of people.
“I think it’s been a challenging year for a lot of people… For me, I just kind of surround myself with a lot of friends and just try to uplift and do the best I can, and I really do think that that’s the same for almost everybody,” said Slater.
That echoed what Farber said during the live show after he and Blair danced their final dance, telling host Alfonso Ribeiro, “It’s been a hard year, losing a very close family member, it’s been hard and getting to dance with [Blair], she just turned everything the way that it needs to be, she’s inspired me again, she’s inspired so many people out there. She is a wonderful mother and an iconic actress and a beautiful dancer now. I owe her everything.”
Blair added, “I don’t think people understand what this show means to us here, especially this season, everyone has such incredible reasons for being here, so wholesome and good, all of us, and to see the audience react to each and every one of us and our efforts, it’s so heartening and I wish I could stay and learn and be all the things I wish when I watch everyone here. I’m so proud of everyone and I’m so proud of this auidnece for seeing us, thank you.”
Slater Also Told Extra How Proud & Honored She Was to be Part of Blair’s Journey on the Show
Blair was diagnosed with MS in 2018 and has basically been on bed rest since then, she revealed on the live show, so to accomplish what she did on “Dancing With the Stars” was remarkable.
Slater told Extra that “it was such an honor for us to get to know Selma, and now she’s a part of our lives. I think everybody can safely say that she’s one of the brightest lights in the ballroom.”
Slater continued:
She has just this energy and you feel instantly connected to her because she’s able to connect with everybody and she wants to. She’s just got time for everyone and so witnessing her strength struggling with MS… struggling with that to do one of the hardest dance competitions… It’s been an honor to watch, and I just commend her so much for pushing herself and not knowing what she was going to get out of it, but knowing that she wanted to do that. I just think it’s just so courageous and she was stunning and such an inspiration.
And Slater’s partner Trevor Donovan added, “She came in every single day, lifting other people up while she was going through what she’s going through, which is just, it’s unbelievable.”
On Slater’s Instagram, she shared a video from the post-show interviews with Farber and Blair, calling them “the light in the ballroom” and saying she “can’t even tell you how proud I am of what you accomplished.”
She added in the live video, “I think her and Sasha together are the perfect team. He did so well with her, and we’re all friends for life, for sure.”
So it certainly sounds like Slater and Farber’s split is fairly amicable. The two dancers were married in March 2018.
“Dancing With the Stars” airs Monday nights at 8 p.m. Eastern and 5 p.m. Pacific time on Disney Plus.