‘Dancing With the Stars’ Competitor Bobby Bones Suffers Injury Prior to Premiere

Bobby Bones is heading into the Dancing With the Stars premiere Monday battered and bruised, he revealed to PEOPLE prior to the kick-off of season 27.

He revealed that he’s been elbowed twice in the mouth by partner Sharna Burgess, which resulted in blood and even a tooth issue. Both times, he admitted, the collision was his fault.

“I had to fill out a lot of paperwork, because I got hit really hard,” he said, adding that he even had to file a dental claim. “There was blood and a tooth. I still don’t know what I’m doing. She was doing her spin thing, and she was doing what she was supposed to do, and my face was not doing what it was supposed to do.”

The radio personality and his pro dancer partner have been training for just over two weeks, but Bones added the practice has left him with some sore ankles and knees in addition to dental trauma.

“You know, things aren’t supposed to bend certain ways,” he said. He added, “I’m feeling pretty good. The cuts have healed.”

Burgess was quick to talk up her partner, however, telling the publication, “He’s doing amazing. He came into this a few weeks ago with absolutely no experience, no confidence, no idea of whether he could or couldn’t do it,” she said. “It’s been two and a half weeks of him really starting to grow and really starting to enjoy it and embrace dance and improve a lot.”

“It’s way harder than I thought,” Bones added. “People that do it well make it look easy, and if you just watched me do it, you would see how hard it is because I don’t do it well. She’s a great coach, though.”

The two will start off the season Monday evening with a jive to “T-R-O-U-B-L-E” by Travis Tritt. Here’s what the other teams will be performing:

-Alexis Ren and Alan Bersten – Jive – “Good Golly Miss Molly” by Little Richard
-Danelle Umstead and Artem Chigvintsev – Foxtrot – “Rise Up” by Andra Day
-DeMarcus Ware and Lindsay Arnold – Cha Cha – “Sweet Sensation” by Flo Rida
-Evanna Lynch and Keo Motsepe – Foxtrot – “Do You Believe in Magic” by Aly & AJ
-Joe “Grocery Store Joe” Amabile and Jenna Johnson – Quickstep – “Fish Out of Water” by Leo Soul
-John Schneider and Emma Slater – Foxtrot – “Good Ol’ Boys from Dukes of Hazzard” by Waylon Jennings
-Juan Pablo Di Pace and Cheryl Burke – Salsa – “Dinero” by Jennifer Lopez featuring DJ Khaled & Cardi B
-Mary Lou Retton and Sasha Farber – Cha Cha – “Treasure” by Bruno Mars
-Milo Manheim and Witney Carson – Cha Cha – “Free Free Free” by Pitbull featuring Theron Theron
-Nancy McKeon and Val Chmerkovskiy – Quickstep – “It Don’t Mean a Thing” by Club Des Belugas
-Nikki Glaser and Gleb Savchenko – Salsa – “YES” by Louisa featuring 2 Chainz
-Tinashe and Brandon Armstrong – Jive – “I’m a Lady” by Meghan Trainor

Dancing With the Stars airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Photo credit: Twitter/Dancing With the Stars