Melissa Gilbert and “DWTS” injury
Last night’s “Rock Week” edition of “Dancing with the Stars” was marred by an apparent celebrity injury that required immediate medical treatment.
Host Tom Bergeron announced at the end of the show that actress Melissa Gilbert went to the hospital after she and pro partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy received their scores for their paso doble. Video of the routine showed Melissa apparently hitting her head on the dance floor near the end of her routine.
“(Melissa) had some concussion-like symptoms after she got her scores” – Maksim’s brother, Val Chmerkovskiy, told CNN after the show. “She was a little nauseous and dizzy, so she decided to go to the hospital.”
Maksim also fell during the routine, which Judge Len Goodman blamed on a slippery floor. Melissa and Maksim received a 22 out of a possible 30 from the three-judge panel, and the actress is now recovering.
“As a result of hitting her head during the dance [Monday], Melissa has a mild concussion and whiplash. She is at home, resting comfortably and looking forward to her next dance” – her rep told CNN.
As far as the other celebrities, Sherri Shepherd was the first performer up to bat, and she did a tango to a Quiet Riot song. To be honest, the tune didn’t fit with the dance, and Sherri looked slow and robotic, a far cry from the enthusiasm we’ve seen in previous weeks.
Melissa Gilbert.
On Monday, when Dancing with the Stars host Tom Bergeron announced that Melissa Gilbert had been injured and rushed to the hospital, he promised an update on her condition.
On Tuesday’s results show, Gilbert was still not well enough to be in the ballroom.
“Melissa is not here. She did suffer a mild concussion” – Bergeron said. “On her doctor’s advice she is taking a rest day and if they get through tonight she’ll be able to compete going forward.”
Then, Bergeron asked her partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy about his injured arm.
“Yes, it takes away from the pain in the ankles knees and shoulders” – Chmerkovskiy joked, before turning the attention back to his partner, whose spinal column has been fused in two places, most recently a year-and-a-half ago.
“I really do hope she’s okay. She’s a fighter, a trooper” – he said of Gilbert. “I’m looking forward to next week. She’s looking forward to next week. But she’s a little sedated so she doesn’t know what she’s looking forward to.”
What would “Dancing with the Stars” be without a celebrity trip to the emergency room?
Former “Little House” cutie turned Screen Actors Guild president Melissa Gilbert is this year’s chosen star, heading to the ER after, reportedly hitting her head on the dance floor during her paso doble with professional partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy on Monday, though Maks insisted to Web site TMZ she’d merely “bumped her head.”
“If you’re wondering why Melissa and Maks are not here, she injured herself” and has been taken to the hospital, WaPo TeamTV “Dancing” correspondent Emily Yahr reported the show’s host Tom Bergeron explaining in the final seconds of Monday’s broadcast.
“Concussion” AND “whiplash,” Gilbert had tweeted proudly a while later. Shortly thereafter, she added: “@GavinDeGraw bless your heart for carrying me down those stairs!”
It was another of the show’s pro dancers, Karina Smirnoff, who told a gaggle of press assigned to cover “Dancing” from backstage, that Gilbert said she had hit her head on the floor during her performance.
Gilbert (47) has not suffered silently through this season of “Dancing.” In the most recent post for a Monday “Dancing” blog she’s been writing for People magazine, Gilbert whined – “ I have a burn on my ankle from being dragged across the floor by Maks. It will scar. No question. The scar is mine. I earned it by working really hard.”
Two weeks earlier, she’d blogged, in re the quickstep – “this is one of the most vexing, frustrating things I have ever asked my body to do. Childbirth is easier.”
Gilbert joins a long “Dancing With the Stars” injured list. In fall of ’09, Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay had to drop out of the competition after breaking bones both his feet. In the spring of ‘11, pro dancer Kym Johnson was clearly seen being dropped on her head during rehearsal with her celebrity partner, NFL champ Hines Ward. And in fall of ’10, former “Dirty Dancing” star Jennifer Grey was hospitalized after rupturing a disc in her back — which she had broken years earlier in a car accident.