‘DWTS’ Peta Murgatroyd Says Lamar Odom’s Memory Loss Has Affected Their Dance Routines

Dancing with the Stars pro Peta Murgatroyd spoke out in a touching story for People Magazine about how much her celebrity partner Lamar Odom’s memory loss has affected their professional partnership. In addition, she remains hopeful about their future on the series, despite low scores that put them at the bottom of the show’s leader board two weeks in a row.

Opening up to People Magazine, Peta revealed that Lamar’s memory loss has caused him to forget steps in their routines, creating confusion when they perform despite her best efforts to lead him back into their carefully choreographed dances.

Peta explained that most recently, the couple’s salsa began with high energy and all the moves she had carefully choreographed for the professional basketball player. But she realized something was amiss when halfway through their routine, he began to forget the dance steps he had worked so hard to memorize.

“I don’t think people really understand when Lamar says he has a ‘memory problem.’ The guy was in a coma and had 12 heart attacks and six strokes. He shouldn’t be living, but by a miracle he is. His memory is the biggest issue we face, not the height. His cognitive ability is slow and it has definitely affected us,” Peta told People Magazine of the challenges they face moving forward in the competition.

The professional dancer also revealed that she does not add complicated moves to their routines so it will be easier for Lamar. Still, she claimed that during their rehearsals, he will forget the majority of what he has learned and Peta will have to once again show him the steps.

This could potentially set them back in the competition, but Peta remains steadfast in her support of Lamar and what she believes he can accomplish as they continue on Dancing with the Stars.

Peta also explained in the interview that in order for them to get through their routines, she has to speak the steps to Lamar about two beats before they are supposed to happen, all while performing her own dance steps and smiling for the cameras that are ready to capture any slip-ups if they occur.

The Inquisitr recently reported that Lamar claims he did not do drugs on a fateful night he was found unresponsive in a Nevada brothel and believes someone may have slipped something in his drink. This is a somewhat different claim than he made in his book Darkness to Light. In it, he wrote that he had a combination of drugs and alcohol in his body that fateful evening. Afterward, his heart stopped twice, he experienced 12 seizures and six strokes, his lungs collapsed, and his kidneys ruptured.

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