Kirstie Alley's dress drops 38 inches since 'Dancing With the Stars' debut

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - When Kirstie Alley performs on the "Dancing With the Stars" season finale, she'll do it in a much smaller dress than the one she wore on the season premiere.

The costume Alley wore for her "Dancing" debut had to be taken in 38 inches for her to wear again for the show's closing episode Tuesday. She will reprise her opening-night dance, the cha-cha, in her original costume — minus about 38 inches in alterations from throughout the outfit.

The 60-year-old actress has been noticeably shrinking week after week, but she was coy when asked Monday how much weight she has lost during her two and a half months on the show.

"There will be some reveal of that at some point, but I really didn't care," she said. "As long as I kept changing and changing and changing, I really didn't care. It was like, keep whittling, whittling, whittling. And the other thing that's really more significant to me — I mean, I love the whittling, I like being skinny — I'm really strong and really agile, and it gave me a new life."

Alley's costumes have gotten progressively smaller and skimpier as she has continued on the show.