Is “Dancing with the Stars” cursed?
If you are contestant on the show you might think so. This season alone Jane Seymour’s mom died while her nimble daughter was strutting her stuff on live TV. Then, contestant Marie Osmond collapsed in front of millions of viewers following her dance number. And just last week Seymour was rushed from the “Dancing” set to the hospital after a bout of food poisoning.
Now, more bad luck has befallen Osmond-—her 90-year-old father George Osmond died this morning.
Ironically, Marie’s famous brother Donny was on the set of TV’s “Entertainment Tonight” preparing to tape a segment regarding his sister’s appearance on last night’s “Dancing with the Stars” when he got the news that his beloved father had passed away.
Even more ironic is the fact that Donny was on the “ET” stage just yesterday talking with host Mary Hart about the Osmond family patriarch’s frail condition and his recent visit with him.
“I walk in and he just lights up and he says, ‘Donny…I love you.’ He says, ‘I love you.’ He doesn’t say much, but when he saw me and said, ‘Donny I love you’…my 90-year-old dad…who can’t do much, but when he says, ‘I love you,’ that’s all he needs to do.”
George Osmond was born on October 13, 1917, in Etna, Wyoming. He and his wife Olive (who died in 2004 at the age of 79) had nine children – Donny, Marie, Alan, Jay, Jimmy, Merrill, Wayne, Tom and Virl. Alan, Jay, Merrill, Wayne, and Donny went on to become members of the singing group The Osmonds. While Marie had a successful singing career of her own and is now holding her own as a celebrity contestant on the fifth season of the mega-popular “Dancing with the Stars.” Though, given the family’s heartbreaking loss I have a feeling we won’t be seeing her on tonight’s results show.
And there’s no word on how Oprah Winfrey is going to deal with the Osmond’s loss. The queen of talk was set to host a big Osmond family reunion on her show this Friday. The entire Osmond clan (more than 100 people) was scheduled to appear on Winfrey’s popular daytime show to celebrate Donny’s 50 years in the entertainment business.
Just a few days ago Marie told TV’s “Access Hollywood,” “[Oprah’s] got a big jet, and she is going to fly like 120 Osmonds there. All the family everybody is going to be there. It’s going to be a hoot!”
Oprah’s production team told “Access Hollywood” they had not decided how George’s death would affect the upcoming show.
You have to feel bad for the Osmond family and wonder what it is about being a contestant on “Dancing with the Stars” them magnets for bad news.