‘Dancing With the Stars’: Cheryl Burke Updates Status of Her Head Injury

Ahead of Monday’s Dancing With the Stars episode, PEOPLE shared an exclusive clip that revealed Cheryl Burke had suffered a head injury during rehearsals. Her partner, A.J. McLean, quickly came to her side to check in on her after she tumbled and hit her head on the dance floor. Despite the injury, she ended up stepping out for the live episode as the two danced the tango to “Psycho” by Intermezzo Orchestra and received a 26.

A day after performing, Burke provided insight into her injury and where she and McLean will go from here. She said her adrenalin got her through Monday’s routine, though she admitted she began to feel some discomfort the morning after, “Today, I have been pretty sore, but there’s no sitting on the sidelines for me.” Despite feeling some pain, she said she isn’t going anywhere and will continue to push through in the competition, “There’s no sitting on the sidelines for me.” Before this season, Burke had experienced some of her celebrity partners needing to leave the competition due to injury, most recently last season when Ray Lewis had to depart the show after an injury knocked him out of the competition.

Burke now has her sights set on next week’s double elimination episode. She anticipates that the two will deliver a “beautiful and emotional dance” next Monday in what is sure to be a jam-packed episode that will cut the field from nine couples to seven. “Get your tissues ready,” Burke suggested to her fans. “Our rumba is not only going to be a tear jerker- but a dance that will also tell a story of hope and light through movement.” With six days to go until the next episode, their song choice has yet to be revealed, but if it’s anything like Burke is hyping it up to, it’s sure to be a crowd-pleaser.

After advancing to the Top 9, McLean shared a video of the two on his Instagram. In his caption, he wrote that he was nervous during the elimination but thanked the fans for always getting them through. He also shouted out Burke ahead of the show for pushing through her injury, “She is the epitome of a bada— and I am so proud to be her partner.” Dancing With the Stars will take on its double elimination next Monday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.