8 “Dancing With the Stars” injuries that nearly ended contestants’ runs

Britt HayesWed, September 16, 2026 at 3:15 PM UTC

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Jennifer Grey on ‘Dancing With the Stars’; Steve-O on ‘Dancing With the Stars’Credit: Adam Larkey/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty; Kelsey McNeal/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

Dancing With the Stars can be a dangerous game if you’re not careful. Just ask the celebrities who sustained injuries while competing for the title.

For 35 seasons (and counting), the hit ABC competition series has paired celebrity amateurs with professional dancers to dance their way to the finale, where the winners get to take home the coveted Len Goodman Mirrorball trophy. But the journey to the top requires commitment to a grueling schedule that includes training for several hours a day, a full dress rehearsal before the show, and the actual performances; after, the celebs try to squeeze in a few hours of recovery before they start it all over again the following day.

Even celebs who have an established fitness regimen or prior dance experience struggle with the boot-camp style of rehearsing for DWTS. “It’s not as easy as people think,” judge Carrie Ann Inaba told Entertainment Weekly. “When you go from being a jazz dancer or a hip-hop dancer or all the other forms of dancing [to ballroom], the weight placement is so different... It takes a lot of time to un-train the body to put your weight on the front more over your toes instead of back and down and grounded.”

As you can imagine, injuries aren’t uncommon on DWTS. Season 29 winner and former BacheloretteKaitlyn Bristowe said she “is still suffering years later” from injuries she sustained on the show. Here are eight more DWTS contestants who almost had to bow out after getting hurt during the competition.

01 of 08

Ariana Madix

Ariana Madix and Pasha Pashkov on ‘Dancing With the Stars’Credit: Disney+/ ABC

Ariana Madix and partner Pasha Pashkov made it to the season 32 semifinals despite the Vanderpump Rules star incurring a foot injury leading up to Motown Night, followed by a back injury. “Pain hasn’t stopped me before and won’t stop me now,” Madix said in her pre-finals rehearsals.

Though she and Pashkov earned their first perfect score of the season for a foxtrot to “Trampoline” by Shaed & Zayn, the duo placed third in the finals, likely due to Madix’s injury. While she may have lost DWTS, she still came away from the experience a winner — during her post-mortem interview, Madix revealed that she’d be playing Roxie Hart in Chicago on Broadway.

02 of 08

Alfonso Ribeiro

Witney Carson and Alfonso Ribeiro perform during “Movie Night” on ‘Dancing With the Stars’Credit: Adam Taylor/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

Former Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star Alfonso Ribeiro and partner Witney Carson earned a perfect score when they incorporated his iconic Carlton dance into their week 4 routine — a move that resulted in one of two injuries Ribeiro sustained on the show. “I hurt my groin doing the Carlton,” the actor revealed on that week’s episode. “I think I did it so hard that I actually pulled it.”

Ribeiro subsequently injured his back during rehearsal and nearly had to quit the show. “It took my breath away,” Ribeiro said in rehearsal footage. “I started to feel incredible pain in my lower back, and every movement just started to just hurt more and more.”

“You know, I really want to keep going,” he added. “But I just don’t know if my body’s going to let me continue.” Thankfully, his body complied, and Ribeiro and Carson went on to win the trophy for season 19.

03 of 08

Ralph Macchio

Karina Smirnoff and Ralph Macchio perform during “American Week” on ‘Dancing With the Stars’Credit: Adam Taylor/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

Ralph Macchio kept his chin up despite suffering a ruptured knee cyst in DWTS season 12. “I deliver 100 percent every week, [but] I still think we get judged pretty tough,” the Karate Kid icon told PEOPLE. “I’ve learned a lot about myself, as far as how far I can push myself — physically, mentally and emotionally. It is a tough grind.”

Macchio and partner Karina Smirnoff were ultimately eliminated during week 9, which seemed to frustrate Smirnoff more than Macchio. “They said everything besides the actual words, ‘we don’t want you in the finale,’” Smirnoff said of the judges’ scoring.

04 of 08

Amy Purdy

Amy Purdy and Derek Hough perform on ‘Dancing With the Stars’Credit: Adam Taylor/Getty

Paralympic snowboarder and double amputee Amy Purdy wowed judges on season 18 of DWTS, but a shoulder injury almost took her out of the competition in week 7. After dancing a rumba with partner Derek Hough, Purdy was sent to the hospital to address her injury, and missed out on the group dance. The legendary athlete opened up about the injury the following day, in a guest blog for the L.A. Times.

“Keeping your shoulders down while you’re moving, twisting and trying to keep up with a dancing Superman like Derek is hard and it put a lot of strain on my shoulder blades, particularly my right one, all week long,” Purdy wrote. “I was able to get through our dance last night just fine without any soreness, but as we were wrapping up our chit-chat with the judges I turned my head and felt a distinct pop in my back. Instantly I was in pain.”

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After being diagnosed with a muscular injury and given medication, Purdy returned the following week to earn her first perfect score with an Argentine tango. She then went on to earn two more perfect scores before the finals, where she and Hough were the runners-up.

05 of 08

Danica McKellar

Danica McKellar and Val Chmerkovskiy perform on ‘Dancing With the Stars’Credit: Adam Taylor/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

Purdy’s season 18 competitor Danica McKellar was also hit with a painful injury that threatened her week 7 performance. “This is a pain that Danica’s had since week two,” her dance partner Valentin Chmerkovskiy wrote in a blog for TODAY. “We tried a couple of lifts this week while rehearsing and we heard a ‘pop’ and then it was over. The pain was so bad she started crying. We went to the hospital for another X-ray. She has a fractured rib.”

The Wonder Years star managed to make it safely through that week’s salsa and group dance. “It’s just that time in the competition where us non-athletes, our bodies are going, ‘Wait, what are you doing? Slow down!’” McKellar told E! News. “You know, we’re just not used to the stress, the physical stress of it.”

Unfortunately, she and Chmerkovskiy were eliminated the following week.

06 of 08

Maria Menounos

Maria Menounos and Derek Hough perform on ‘Dancing With the Stars’Credit: Adam Taylor/ABC via Getty images

Extra host Maria Menounos sustained multiple injuries on season 14 of DWTS, hurting her chin and ribs, and suffering a stress fracture to her right foot. Paired with Hough, Menounos soldiered on to earn the first perfect score of the season, for her paso doble in week 7.

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Sadly, despite her consistently impressive performance, Menounos and Hough were eliminated during the semifinals. “This was a magical experience for me,” Menounos said on Good Morning America. “To be able to learn how to dance and to be able to perform and be a part of this show was something I didn’t want to stop for anything. So I taped up my feet, I did all the therapies, I did everything I could and every time a doctor told me I couldn’t keep going, I would look at him and say, ‘I’m going to keep going.’”

07 of 08

Steve-O

Lacey Schwimmer and Steve-O perform on ‘Dancing With the Stars’Credit: Kelsey McNeal/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

Jackass star Steve-O has weathered more than his fair share of injuries over the course of his career, so it was a little surprising when he decided to sit out his second week in DWTS season 8. “A physical therapist has told me that nerves are being pinched in my back and it is in spasms because of inflammation related to torn muscles,” Steve-O said in a statement. “I’m doing everything I can to let it heal: icing it, taking Advil, drinking water, visiting a chiropractor and continuing to be worked on by the physical therapist.”

Steve-O and his dance partner, Lacey Schwimmer, recovered from the brief hiatus, but consistently earned middling scores until they were eliminated in week 6.

08 of 08

Jennifer Grey

Derek Hough and Jennifer Grey perform on ‘Dancing With the Stars’Credit: Adam Larkey/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

Before joining DWTS season 11, Jennifer Grey had four neck surgeries related to a 1987 injury and a cancerous thyroid. Nevertheless, the Dirty Dancing icon persisted, and continuously impressed the judges week after week alongside partner Hough.

Things took a sharp turn the night before the finals, when Grey was hospitalized after rupturing a disc in her back. “I did not think I was going to be able to dance,” Grey told Good Morning America following the finale. “She called me in the morning on the day of the finals and was in tears,” said Grey’s doctor. “She was in terrible pain.”

After receiving epidural steroid injections for the pain, Grey was able to walk and felt comfortable enough to dance — with her doctor’s blessing, of course. In what might be the most incredible comeback in DWTS history, Grey and Hough danced through all four routines in the finale and emerged as the winners of the season.

on Entertainment Weekly

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”