Newton Keeps Dancing Despite Pneumonia Scare
Wayne Newton by Carol Kaelson/ABC
If you're wondering what makes a legend, consider this: The morning after Wayne Newton was voted off
Dancing with the Stars, "I was diagnosed with pneumonia," he says. "I spent about a week going through all kinds of physical tests with my personal doctor, [famed heart surgeon] Dr. Michael DeBaky - not for heart stuff, just breathing stuff. I've had asthma my whole life, but I hadn't had an attack in maybe 20 years."
Newton's close call spooked fellow contenders. After she collapsed on air - also from breathing problems - Marie Osmond says, "All I could think was, 'That could have been Wayne.' I was so worried about him."
Newton, though, is made of tough entertainer stuff, and as such looks forward to not only returning for the
DWTS finale, but also the national tour kicking off in mid-December. Toward that goal, this week he says he will seek "a clean bill of health from my doctors."
- Reporting by Deborah Starr Seibel
