Tonya Harding Reveals Why Her 7-Year-Old Son Won’t Ever Be Seen On ‘Dancing With the Stars’

Tonya Harding had some support in the Dancing With the Stars: Athletes studio audience; her husband, Joseph Jens Price, was in the ballroom for Week 2 of the ABC celebrity ballroom competition, but the former Olympic figure skater plans to keep her personal cheering squad to a minimum as she competes on the show with pro partner Sasha Farber. In an interview with Us Weekly, Tonya revealed that fans will never see her 7-year-old son, Gordon, on Dancing With the Stars due to safety concerns.

“We chose to keep my son out of the public eye for his safety,” Harding revealed. “I’m sorry, but this world can sometimes be cruel.”

While she won’t allow her son to Be seen on DWTS, Harding did admit the show is “amazing.”

“I haven’t felt this alive in so long, except when I found out I was going to have my son,” Tonya told Us Weekly.

More than two decades after she made worldwide headlines for the 1994 Olympic clubbing scandal that left rival Nancy Kerrigan injured, Tonya Harding has kept her personal life as private as possible. Tonya recently told Good Morning America that she feels like she is getting a second chance after her notorious past.

“I had my son at 40, so the first half of my life I’m actually maybe getting a do-over, so that’s why I’m here,” Harding told GMA, according to People.

Tonya, who married third husband Joe Price in 2010, told Inside Edition their little boy is “the most wonderful thing in the world” and she “couldn’t imagine my world without him.”

Harding’s son knows she is an Olympian, but reportedly doesn’t know the details surrounding her notoriety.

In 1994, Tonya Harding’s ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, hired a hitman to assault Nancy Kerrigan at the Olympic trials. Tonya has always denied that she was involved in the attack against Kerrigan, but she pleaded guilty to hindering the prosecution and was slapped with a hefty fine and banned for life by the U.S. Figure Skating Figure Skating Association.

“I’m just really glad that my son will grow up knowing that his mommy was not a cheater,” Harding told People earlier this year.

Tonya Harding plans to tell her son about her past life as an athlete when he gets a bit older. For now, the 7-year-old has only been out on the ice one time, but he wants to practice skating with his mom.

Take a look at the video below to see an emotional Tonya Harding talking about her husband and son.

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