Yvette Nicole Brown is mourning a deeply personal loss. On Wednesday, the actress shared a moving tribute to her longtime friend, Donyelle Denise Wilson, the beloved dancer known to “So You Think You Can Dance” fans as Donyelle Jones.
Yvette’s Heartbreaking Tribute To A Beloved Friend
“My dear friend has gone on to be with the Lord,” Brown wrote on Instagram. “@donyelledenise8 was… n,o 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! 😘❤️🕊️”
She also offered love to Donyelle’s husband, writing, “We love you @tahirjahi ❤️.”
Donyelle Wilson’s Family Confirms Her Death at 46
Donyelle Denise Wilson died on Tuesday, December 2, at 8:34 a.m., according to an announcement shared on her official Instagram page. She was 46.
Her death came nearly a decade after she was diagnosed with stage 3C breast cancer in 2016. The disease later advanced to Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer.
In the statement, she 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.”
“Her spirit never dimmed. Her heart never hardened. And even in the storm, she never lost her smile,” the announcement continued.
Donyelle Wilson’s Glorious SYTYCD Journey
Wilson first captured national attention on season 2 of “So You Think You Can Dance” in 2006. Her dynamic hip-hop and jazz performances made her a fan favorite as she finished in third place behind Benji Schwimmer and Travis Wall.
Since her diagnosis, Wilson used her social platforms to document her journey. She celebrated July 6, 2025, as the day she taught her first dance class in four years, calling it a “bday gift to myself.”
“The theme for this evening was Love, Peace, Reassurance,” she wrote. “Cancer has robbed me of so much, and I let 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,” she added.
In one of her final videos, shared just six days before her death, Wilson revealed that she was putting her affairs in order.
She said she had done “everything possible to extend my time in this dimension, and at this point I have surrendered to whatever God’s will is.”
Her openness, resilience, and warmth drew support across the dance and entertainment world.
Hollywood and the Dance Community Celebrate Her Legacy
Tributes poured in following news of her death. Brown wrote that Wilson’s impact stretched far beyond her dancing, calling her “the best of us.”
LA Dance Magic, a Los Angeles-based dance company, also honored her life, sharing that it was “heartbroken” by her passing. They wrote that her “passion for dance, her kindness, and her love for the people around her touched countless lives and left an impact we will always carry with us.”
