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| Maksim Chmerkovskiy |
"Whatever it is, it's going to have to wait until May 24th. After the finale!" Chmerkovskiy told Us Weekly following Monday night's performance show. "No big deal. I'll be fine... It'll take a stretcher to get me out of here! I'll be okay."
The professional dancer's leg gave out as he supported actress and former Kirstie Alley's Big Life star Kirstie Alley in a move where he whisked her across the floor during their rumba to "Over the Rainbow." While he composed himself and resumed dancing after shaking off the fall, Chmerkovskiy was wincing and grimacing in pain noticeable during the remainder of the routine.
"My thigh just gave out. Any dancer would know it happens -- muscle strains and all that -- but it has nothing to do with [Alley]. I just want to apologize," Chmerkovskiy told Dancing with the Stars co-host Brooke Burke after the performance.
Alley -- who went tumbling to the floor with Chmerkovskiy -- admitted to Us she was "so scared" as the fall began to unfold and "knew something was wrong." However, once the actress realized Chmerkovskiy was able to continue, she said, "[Chmerkovskiy] just controlled me. I stood up and said, 'I don't know where we are,' and he said, 'Just follow me.' So I did!"
Although it was an unfortunate blunder in the couple's otherwise solid performance, Chmerkovskiy felt he handled the situation the best he could in the moment.
"You know how I learned to swim? I was on a swimming team. You know how they taught me to swim? They threw me in the water and said, 'There you go!'" Chmerkovskiy told Us.
Alley said she was also unconcerned about the flaw in their routine and noted she would at least have an interesting story to tell in the future.
"When I signed up for this I signed up for live TV, whatever the hell that means," the 60-year-old told Us. "For me, this is a story. I dance, I get an eight, is that a story? No. I'm not saying I don't care about our scores, I do, but I don't give a f**k if we fall down!"
Despite the fall, Alley and her 30-year-old partner still earned 21 out of a possible 30 points fromDancing with the Stars judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli and landed in a fifth-place tie on the judges' leaderboard.
"Sometimes tragedy leads to an amazingly beautiful moment," Inaba commented following the couple's dance. "Something magical happened."
After Alley and Chmerkovskiy received their scores from the judges, Dancing with the Starsprofessionals Tony Dovolani and Cheryl Burke also followed Chmerkovskiy as he walked off set to check on him and offer their assistance.
Sources: http://www.realitytvworld.com
