Reading Time: 3 minutes
Very, very sad news this week out of the world of reality television:
Donyelle Denise Wilson, who went by the name Donyelle Jones when she advanced to the finals of So You Think You Can Dance in 2006, has passed away.
She was 46 years old.
Her passing comes nearly ten years after Donyelle was diagnosed with stage 3C breast cancer in 2016, which later progressed to Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer.
Donyelle was remembered as “A wife. A daughter. A sister. A friend. And a warrior who kicked cancer’s ass every single day she was here,” in the social media announced that confirmed her death.
“Her spirit never dimmed. Her heart never hardened. And even in the storm, she never lost her smile.”
After appearing in various music videos and other dance projects, Jones broke out as a contestant on Season 2 of So You Think You Can Dance, which aired on Fox in the summer of 2006.
The contestant specialized in the hip-hop and jazz styles and ultimately finished in third place, behind winner Benji Schwimmer and runner-up Travis Wall.
Pretty darn impressive.
Since being diagnosed with breast cancer, Donyelle actively chronicled her journey on Instagram and other platforms, highlighting July 6, 2025, as the date she taught her first dance class in four years … something she called a “bday gift to myself.”
The “theme for this evening was Love, Peace, Reassurance,” she added.
“Cancer has robbed me of so much and I Iet the grief of losing what I had in dance or how it connected to my life take over the possibility of how it can show up in my life right now.
“I’m learning at every twist and turn of this journey called life how to navigate each season as they come.”
Just this past June, Jones shared an Instagram video in which she said the following:
“Right now, I have to choose absolute radical faith, because I am in the fire, y’all.
” just got some horrible news from my doctor. … But I don’t even have a tear for it right now. I am strapping in and I am choosing radical faith. I have to choose radical faith because it’s the only thing that actually will make sense. Otherwise, I’ll lose it. But today, I feel good.”
Donyelle was remembered by many in Hollywood, including actress Yvette Nicole Brown, who wrote a tribute on Instagram, describing the dancer as a “dear friend” and also stating:
@donyelledenise8 was… no IS the best of us. One of one. We love you, Donnie! Thank you for showing us how to live and fight and love and DANCE! We will see you on the other side. I will be the one dancing towards you. Me and my two left feet.
Donyelle Jones Cause of Death: So You Think You Can Dance Finalist Gone at 46 was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.