Lauren Alaina Reveals Her Cousin Went Into a Coma Before Her 'Dancing with the Stars' Performance

"My family told me to come here and I want to dedicate the dance to you, Holly," Lauren Alaina said of her cousin

Lauren Alaina nailed her foxtrot on Monday night’s Dancing with the Stars, but she revealed after completing the routine with her partner Gleb Savchenko that something from her personal life had been weighing on her prior to the performance.

“I had a crazy, crazy week,” Alaina, 24, told co-host Erin Andrews on Monday’s episode. “My cousin Holly had a brain bleed and she slipped into a coma earlier this week. I went home and we missed a few days of rehearsals. And I was like really stressed and my family told me to come here and I want to dedicate the dance to you, Holly.”

Prior to hitting the dance floor with Savchenko, viewers saw a clip of the two going back to Nashville, where Alaina reconnected with her country roots by performing at bar Tootsie’s. Alaina, who’s credited Holly with inspiring her to sing, later revealed that her cousin’s coma also contributed to the trip.

The country star danced her foxtrot to “Jolene” by Dolly Parton, who Alaina said influenced her career “more than any other artist.” Alaina ultimately dedicated her performance to Holly.

Lauren Alaina
ABC

“We’re praying for you. We’re believing in a full recovery,” Alaina continued. “We love you. And I got to do it to Dolly!”

Alaina and Savchenko’s foxtrot earned them a score of 32 out of 40 and kept them safe until next week’s show.

“I can’t talk,” the “Doin’ Fine” singer said after learning of her high score. “I can always talk! Thank you! I got an 8. No more 6s, praise the Lord!”

Lauren Alaina
Robby Klein/Getty

Her competitor Lamar Odom wasn’t as lucky, as he got eliminated at the end of the night after landing in the bottom two with Karamo Brown.

RELATED VIDEO: Lauren Alaina Was ‘So Proud’ of Her Splits Until James Van Der Beek ‘Came Out and Did a Toe Touch’

The night did bring some good news, though: James Van Der Beek revealed that he and his wife Kimberly are expecting their sixth child.

“Hearing the heartbeat was, it’s something you never take for granted,” Van Der Beek, 42, said when the DWTS cameras accompanied him and his family for Kimberly’s first sonogram.

The actor later told his partner Emma Slater about child No. 6, but revealed that the baby bliss comes after some heartbreak.

James Van Der Beek (R) and wife Kimberly Brook
James and Kimberly Van Der Beek in N.Y.C. in 2018. Daniel Zuchnik/WireImage

“We’ve had five kids. We’ve had three miscarriages in-between those,” Van Der Beek told Slater, continuing in an on-camera interview, “Miscarriage is something people really don’t talk about and we want to recognize that it happens to people. We wanted to destigmatize that as much as we possibly could.”

Dancing with the Stars airs Mondays (8 p.m. ET) on ABC.

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