Eden Saban Opens Up About Reality TV Trauma, Identity, and Her Next Chapter
Actress and model Eden Saban opens up about her emotional recovery following a harsh elimination from Dancing with the Stars, launching her own TV series, and redefining her career.
Eden Saban never expected that her elimination from "Dancing with the Stars" would shake her up so deeply that it would continue to weigh on her a year and a half later. After a busy career filled with television appearances, countless modeling gigs, and even the Festigal, she cleared six months of her life for the show—only to find herself voted off second.
"It was the hardest blow to my ego I’ve ever suffered in my life," she says in an interview with the ynet weekend magazine. "For two months I ate myself up. Physically and in terms of ability, I was there. In terms of potential, everything was there. So why not? I was in a low place."
Finding a New Path
What does a low place mean? "I’m not a depressed person; I’m a very optimistic person by nature. I lacked self-confidence and self-appreciation. I looked down on myself immensely. I didn't enter this show to just be a dancer, and it’s tricky because you arrive as a star who has come a long way, and suddenly you are reduced to nothing. You have no choice but to give 200 percent, committing to it mentally and physically. You feel like your bones are being rebuilt, and in a single moment, I felt like that opportunity to keep proving myself was taken away from me. Recovery was not easy."
Reflecting on the past decade, Saban realized she had been living a very passive life. "Actors are in a very passive place. We invest money and time, go to auditions, and ultimately sit in the backseat of the car waiting to be told if we are suitable. In hindsight, the elimination was a wake-up call. I told myself I am starting to tell my own story, and no one will tell it for me."
"When you're half-and-half, for the white folks you're too black, and for the black folks you're too white. You are always left with a question mark about where your place is."
Writing Her Own Story
In practice, this realization led her to write a television series about her life and her mother's journey. Being of mixed heritage, Saban explores the unique complexities of identity and racism that often go unspoken in Israeli culture. Her mother was also a model and one of the first Ethiopian women to break cultural boundaries.
Simultaneously, Saban has expanded her professional horizons beyond mainstream acting. She recently took on a surprising and deeply moving role in a film produced for the ultra-Orthodox sector, shot in Tbilisi, where she played a woman embracing religious repentance.
Despite the challenges of an industry that still struggles with full representation, Saban remains determined. "The opportunities that come my way are not numerous. You see dark-skinned women leading campaigns? Appearing on billboards? We might be in 2026, but unfortunately, there is still not enough space for dark-skinned women to take their rightful place in our country."
