Heather Mills Booted From 'Dancing With the Stars'
April 25, 2007 -- On Tuesday night's "Dancing With the Stars," former model Heather Mills was voted off the show despite dancing with only one leg.
Week after week, Mills proved to be a fierce competitor with exhilarating dance moves, and she did it all with a prosthetic leg. She established herself as more than Paul McCartney's soon-to-be ex-wife, but her journey came to an end Tuesday night.
"I would like to thank the public," she said on Tuesday night's show. "Wherever I go, kids are like, 'Oh my God.' But the best part is that we raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for animals."
Right from the start it was an amazing ride.
"I'm Heather Mills. I've got an artificial leg and there's a good chance it could fall off," Mills told "Good Morning America" before the competition started.
With that auspicious beginning, Mills and partner Jonathon Roberts worked their magic on the judges.
"Nothing matters. John's age, Heather's leg doesn't come into the equation," one judge told the couple. "You are an inspiration for people to come out and dance."
The duo tantalized the audience with flashy moves and invigorated the competition with flips and backbends.
Mills met challenges head-on. When it came time for the jive dance, which is notorious for its rigors on knees and joints, Mills replaced her prosthetic leg with a new one, scoring big points with the judges.
"It's about focusing in the ability rather than the disability, and you can overcome anything," Mills said of competing with a prosthetic limb.
That lesson inspired others, including dancer Stephanie Bastos, who also has a prosthetic leg.
"I think it's exciting that she's getting out there in the public eye because it's OK to look [at] us, it's OK to be curious," Bastos said.
The scariest moment in the show was also the most talked about: Right after dancing the samba, Mills seemed to slip off her final position and land on the ground.
But she picked herself up without injury, rising up with a spirited kick.
"I want to show you can get out there and do anything with an artificial leg," Mills told "Good Morning America" before the show began.
She most certainly succeeded.