Danielle Fishel’s six-year-old son Adler struggled with his mother’s absence while she competed in dancing with the stars.
Appearing in the The capsule meets the world On Monday’s podcast, the 44-year-old actress said that although things at home seemed fine, she soon realized that her son was having a harder time than he let on.
“So my family has had to make a lot of adjustments in our daily lives since I started season 34 of dancing with the stars“said Fishel, who shares sons Adler, 6, and Keaton, 4, with her husband Jensen Karp. “I just can’t be there as often as I used to be.”
Before joining the program, Fishel said she was always involved in her children’s routines, such as school pick-ups, sports and afternoon activities. But their demanding rehearsal schedule made that unlikely.
One day, he received a call from Adler’s teacher after he told his classmates that his father had lost his job and his mother had died.
“The teacher reached out because she was understandably worried,” Fishel recalled. “I showed up at school and when he saw me, he ran and said, ‘Mom, what are you doing here?’”
Fishel told him that he had just come from rehearsal and wanted to see him. When she mentioned she had to come back later, Adler broke down.
“He said, ‘I hate this job. Why did you take it? All you do is dance, dance, dance. You never hang out with Keaton and me again. I want you to quit,'” Fishel shared.
Fishel admitted she felt heartbroken, but stood her ground. “I told her, ‘Mommy loves her job and I’m committed. It’s not forever, but I’m not going to quit.'”
Although Adler was still upset and even closed the car door when they got home, Fishel said they are working on it as a family.
Fishel, who played Topanga in The boy knows the worldwas removed from dancing with the stars last week.
