Danielle Fishel's son told his teachers that the actress had died.

The 44-year-old star - who has sons Adler, six, and Keaton, four, with husband Jensen Karp - has been busy competing on Dancing with the Stars over recent weeks, and Danielle admits that her eldest son struggled to cope with her absence, actually telling teachers that Danielle had passed away.

Speaking on the Pod Meets World podcast, Danielle shared: "My family has had to make so many adjustments to our daily life since I started season 34 of Dancing with the Stars. I'm just not able to be there as often as I used to be."

The actress explained that her training schedule changed her lifestyle, meaning she wasn't spending as much time with her kids as she used to.

Danielle then recalled a recent conversation that she had with one of Adler's teachers.

The TV star said: "She says, so we had a little bit of an issue today with Adler, and I wanted to talk to you about it. And we're like, 'Okay. What happened?' And she said, 'Well, he's been having a little bit of trouble self-starting on some of his work.'

"And the teacher was like, 'Oh well, that does sound stressful.' And [Adler] said, 'Yeah. My dad's upset about it, and he's very nervous.' And then he said, 'And also my mom died'. And the teacher said, 'I'm sorry?' And he was like, 'Yes. My mom is dead.'"

Danielle subsequently made a concerted effort to be more present for her sons. Despite this, Adler still asked Danielle to quit the show, so that she could spend even more time at home.

The actress said: "He bursts into tears. And says, 'I hate this job. Why did you take this job? All you do is dance, dance, dance, dance. That's all you do. You never get to hang out with me and Keaton anymore. I want you to quit. Are you going to quit or not?'

"And I said, I was like, 'Oh. It seems like maybe you've been feeling this way for a while'. And maybe you just haven't been telling anybody."