‘I ALMOST DIED IN THE DELIVERY ROOM!’

Welcoming their first baby during a global pandemic was a daunting prospect for Dancing With The Stars judge Rachel White and her Kiwi hubby Stuart, but it turned out COVID was the least of their concerns when it came to the birth of their sweet son Maxim Ilya, with a difficult pregnancy that saw the brunette beauty nearly die on the delivery table.

“It’s so much easier to talk about what happened now because I finally have my baby – he’s beautiful and literally my dream come true – but there was a lot that came with it,” saysfrom their home in Los Angeles. Going back to the beginning, the champion dancer reveals her heartache at struggling to fall pregnant. “At the time, it was hard to admit that having a baby just wasn’t happening for us,” she confesses. “I felt like whenever I found out someone else was expecting, even though I was happy for them, it was really hard for me. I’d wanted it for so long and I’m such a goal-oriented person, so it was diffi cult.”