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Can she keep it together?

By Dalia Wheatt
Published March 19, 2007

[Times comic: S.I. Rosenbaum] Jennifer Robinson of Lutz, 30, also dances with a prosthetic leg. View comic

ADVERTISEMENT [ABC photo] Heather Mills will be the first contestant to compete with an artificial limb on "Dancing with the Stars." A new season starts Monday, March 19, 8 p.m. on ABC.

Heather Mills McCartney was only kidding when she alluded on Extra to the possibility of her prosthetic leg flying off during Dancing with the Stars, but still we had to wonder: Could it?

Mills McCartney, the estranged wife of Beatle Paul McCartney, lost her left leg below the knee in a 1993 traffic accident. This season, which begins tonight, she'll become the first contestant to compete on Dancing with an artificial limb. During the show Mills McCartney, 39, plans to wear a strap for added security, but that hasn't stopped the Antigua-based gambling Web site Bodog.com from taking bets on whether her prosthesis will stay in place.

For the answer to this and other questions most of us are too polite to ask, we turned to licensed prosthetist-orthotist Mike Rieth of St. Petersburg Limb and Brace.

Could Mills McCartney's leg possibly fall off during Dancing with the Stars?

"I hate to be elusive, but it depends on the suspension, and for the most part the answer is, it's not possible," Rieth said. "With the suspension systems today - I'm going to throw all the bookies off now - it's very unlikely that it would fall off."

How is her artificial leg attached?

Mills McCartney likely uses one of two suspension systems. The first is a roll-on silicone sleeve, which grabs onto the body and doesn't let go. To release the leg at night for hygienic purposes, she would have to roll it off, and there's no way that would accidentally happen during a dance number. The second possibility is suction suspension, which vacuum-seals the limb into place. "The only way to get it off is to push a button," Rieth said. "So again, is it possible (for the limb to fall off)? Yeah, if someone kicks her in the shin or kicks her in the leg and then hits the button. Yeah it could come off, but very unlikely."

Why does it look so lifelike?

Mills has a silicone skin covering that goes over her prosthesis. She likely posed for an artist, who painted the left leg to match Mills McCartney's own right one, Rieth said. He estimated that customized coverings cost about $18,000.

What are the more realistic challenges Mills could face on Dancing with the Stars?

It's hard enough to control a prosthesis, let alone to dance in one. In stilettos. In addition, Mills likely has limited ankle motion. "I don't know which particular foot she's wearing, but she's not going to be able to . . . twist and turn and invert and evert as well as we could," Rieth said.

Will Mills be able to do the intricate footwork some of the dances require?

"She'll be able to adapt, and quite frankly, I think it'll be pretty difficult to tell she has a prosthesis," Rieth said.

But how can you tell an artificial foot what to do?

You don't. The artificial foot is basically passive; Mills McCartney couldn't, for instance, wiggle her toes. The foot will go where she puts it and adapt to just about any surface, "but it's not going to walk for you and it's not going to dance for you. That's the bottom line," Rieth said. Thus, on her left side she will be dancing from the knee and hip.

Which dance will be easiest?

"I think a waltz would be pretty easy for her," Rieth said. "I think any of that cha-cha stuff might be a little bit of a challenge."

[Last modified March 19, 2007, 06:32:22]