Dancing With the Stars pro Cheryl Burke suffered a head injury during her rehearsals with Backstreet Boys singer AJ McLean on Sunday. The injury was revealed in a preview clip published by PEOPLE just hours before Monday’s episode airs and it is not clear if she will be able to join McLean on the dance floor. McLean and Burke have made it to the Top 10 and are scheduled to dance the tango to “Psycho” by Intermezzo Orchestra.
In the clip, McLean explains that their stage rehearsal “did not go well.” The accident happened “so fast, I just heard her head hit the floor.” Burke lost her footing while they prepared for the dance, and her head hit the ballroom floor. Immediately after the accident, McClean crawled over to Burke to ask her if she was OK. A medic was called to the scene to help Burke, who was told to take the rest of the day off. It is not clear if Burke will be back for Monday’s episode, which starts at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. She is the longest-tenured DWTS pro, having joined the show back in Season 2.
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This ailment is not the first injury among the pro dancers for DWTS Season 29. Peta Murgatroyd, who danced with former NFL player Vernon Davis until they were eliminated last week, revealed she “popped out” three of her ribs during the “’80s Night” episode. She rushed off the stage immediately after the episode ended to see the show’s medical team.
When I was getting the judges’ scores last week, I was standing there thinking, ‘Something’s not right,’” Murgatroyd told Entertainment Tonight last week. “I could just feel it was just stiffening up… and as I walked off, we went up the stairs to go back up to our skybox area, and I couldn’t turn my head.” Murgatroyd said she is doing “totally fine” now, but did not know how the injury happened.
Sharna Burgess, who danced with actor Jesse Metcalfe, said she powered through an ankle sprain to continue dancing. “I’ve been strapping my ankle since week one. I rolled my ankle really badly before our first dance and it is a severe sprain,” she told Entertainment Tonight. Metcalfe said he also health with an “arthritic hip,” which could explain why his hips were stiff on the dance floor.
Former The Bachelorette star Kaitlyn Bristowe, whose partner is Artem Chigvintzev, said she suffered an ankle injury early on in the season as well. Bristowe is still on the show, though. Bristowe and Chigvintsev will dance the Paso Doble to Rihanna’s “Disturbia.”
