Members of the Dancing with the Stars family are speaking out following a massive 50-vehicle pileup that involved a DWTS tour bus as it was en route for a live show in Ames, Iowa. The accident occurred as wintry weather made for hazardous driving on Interstate 35 in Iowa, and it involved a tour bus that was transporting cast and crew for the “Dancing with the Stars: Live! Light Up The Night” tour, according to ABC News . One driver died in the accident, while some Dancing with the Stars cast and crew members suffered minor injuries.
Jordan Fisher, who won Season 25 of DWTS in November with partner Lindsay Arnold before signing on to the road tour, posted to Twitter shortly after the accident to update fans.
“Thanking God for the safety of our crew. Thanks for the prayers and well-wishes,” Fisher wrote. The most recent DWTS winner also retweeted a message that the show in Ames would be canceled due to the accident.
In addition, six-time Dancing with the Stars mirrorball champ Derek Hough posted to Instagram to express gratitude that his girlfriend, pro dancer Hayley Erbert, is safe after the accident.
“I’m so thankful my love is safe, ” Hough wrote.
“To my DWTS family. I love you all and I am so glad you are all safe after such a terrible accident. Be strong, be safe and I will see you very soon.”
Fellow Dancing with the Stars alum Ginger Zee posted about the tragedy, saying she was thinking of her friends from the long-running ABC dancing show. And longtime DWTS pro dancer Val Chmerkovskiy sent out prayers to his Dancing with the Stars family.
Thanking God for the safety of our crew. Thanks for the prayers and well-wishes. https://t.co/CLCOD3R0rx
— papa fish (@jordanfisher) February 5, 2018
I’m so thankful my love is safe. To my DWTS family. I love you all and I am so glad you are all… https://t.co/N7GuBksD7L
— Derek Hough (@derekhough) February 6, 2018
One of the tour busses was involved in one of the crashes in Iowa but thankfully it appears everyone is safe, minor injuries. Show cancelled tonight. Thinking of my friends. I have more on where this snow is moving in on @ABCWorldNews https://t.co/cEqI6LiurS
— Ginger Zee (@Ginger_Zee) February 5, 2018
Prayers for my dwts fam
— Valentin (@iamValC) February 6, 2018
The “Dancing with the Stars: Live! Light Up The Night” tour features some of the biggest names from the long-running ABC celebrity ballroom competition. In addition to Fisher, fellow Season 25 contestant Frankie Muniz is a special guest on the 71-date tour. The tour’s pro dancers, some of them past Dancing with the Stars mirrorball champs, includes Lindsay Arnold, Emma Slater, Sharna Burgess, Jenna Johnson, Hayley Erbert, Alan Bersten, Gleb Savchenko, Artem Chigvintsev, Sasha Farber, Keo Motsepe, and Brandon Armstrong.
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In December, longtime Dancing with the Stars pro dancer Lindsay Arnold told the Greenville News that she was excited about the live tour and for the chance to dance with her winning DWTS partner once again.
“I’m really excited about this tour because this is my fourth tour, and I can honestly say that this is going to be the best one I’ve done so far,” Arnold said.
“It’s going to be a lot of elements from the television show, but also new, fun, exciting dances that nobody’s seen before, and we’re really excited. And also keep in mind, we don’t have just one celebrity; we have two. We have Frankie Muniz, and we have Jordan Fisher. It’s going to be a lot of fun performing with those two.”
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After the Dancing with the Stars Season 25 finale in November, third-place finisher Frankie Muniz told Entertainment Tonight he didn’t want his DWTS experience to end and that he was thrilled to be able to continue to dance on the “Light Up The Night” tour .
“It’s the only thing getting me through tonight because, like, otherwise I would be so miserably sad,” Muniz told ET . “[But] I know I get to continue for the next 14 weeks of dancing every day.”
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Unfortunately, a winter tour means bad weather could be part of the mix, which is something the Dancing with the Stars touring cast and their fans found out the hard way as they traveled to Iowa.
Ahead of the bus accident, several of the “Dancing with the Stars: Live! Light Up The Night” dancers posted to social media about the weather they were experiencing while on the tour. Alan Bersten responded to a fan who wrote that “no amount of snow” would keep her from seeing him at the Ames show, saying he liked her dedication, while Frankie Muniz posted about the blizzard as the bus was headed into the Iowa city.
Dedication ? I like that https://t.co/08xvDatdus
— Alan Bersten (@Dance10Alan) February 5, 2018
Riding in the bus on our way to the show tonight in Ames, Iowa, looking out the window at the snow covered ground in this crazy blizzard listening to unreleased songs of a band I was in 8 years ago…
— Frankie Muniz (@frankiemuniz) February 5, 2018
According to Entertainment Tonight , Lindsay Arnold, Emma Slater, and Sasha Farber were also on the road and had all updated their Instagram stories just ahead of the accident.
The “Dancing with the Stars Live Light Up the Night Tour” is scheduled to run through March 18, where it will wrap up in Los Angeles. There is no word on a rescheduled show at the Stephens Auditorium in Ames, Iowa.
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