Melissa Rycroft Pulls Out Of ‘Dancing’ On Monday Following Injury To Her Ribs

 
 
enlarge
  • Melissa Rycroft Tony Dovolani DWTS Wk 1
  • Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani DWTS Week One
  • Melissa Rycroft visits ‘Ellen’ after ‘The Bachelor’ finale
  • ‘Bachelor’ contestant Melissa Rycroft

1/4

  • ABC

    Melissa Rycroft Tony Dovolani DWTS Wk 1

  • ABC

    Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani DWTS Week One

  • The Ellen DeGeneres Show

    Melissa Rycroft visits ‘Ellen’ after ‘The Bachelor’ finale

  • ABC

    ‘Bachelor’ contestant Melissa Rycroft

 
 

FIRST PUBLISHED: April 27, 2009 8:04 PM EDT
LAST UPDATED: April 27, 2009 9:08 PM EDT

LOS ANGELES, Calif. --

Melissa Rycroft has pulled out of tonight’s “Dancing With the Stars” competition round after injuring her ribs once again.

As previously reported on Access Hollywood, Melissa injured her ribs during last week’s show, but she hurt them again while practicing with professional partner Tony Dovolani for Week 8 of the competition.

“This week Melissa suffered a painful rib injury. Complications will prevent her from dancing tonight. She’s talking with a doctor right now. It looks like she’ll be able to continue in the competition,” “Dancing” co-host Tom Bergeron told the show audience during Monday night’s broadcast.

Footage aired on the ABC program, showed Melissa hunching over in pain during a rehearsal earlier in the week. And the reality star addressed the “Dancing” cameras in a pre-taped interview to explain what happened.

“I hurt my ribs last week doing a difficult move. It was feeling better and then I hurt myself again,” she said. “I felt a blinding pain shoot down my side, so we decided it would be best to go actually have a doctor check it out.”

A doctor told the former “Bachelor” star she is suffering what appeared to be a “hairline fracture of the ribs.”

She was given the go-ahead to perform, but the pain continued.

“Melissa was able to rehearse this morning, but as the day progressed, so did the pain,” Tom told the audience. “She is expected to recover.”

In order to stay in the competition, the judges and audience were asked to vote based on a rehearsal of her dance with Tony.

Additionally, a source told Access that Melissa suffered a bad reaction to some medication, which also helped keep her out of Monday’s competition.

Melissa is one of several “Dancing” stars to suffer injuries this season. In fact, she entered the competition as the last minute replacement for Access Hollywood’s own Nancy O’Dell, who had to withdraw from the show before the first round after tearing her meniscus.

Copyright 2009 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Keep your Access to everything in Hollywood! Breaking news and personal commentary from Nancy, Billy, Tony, Shaun, Maria & all of our producers! Follow us on and now!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

What Do You Think?

How many times will you see ‘New Moon?’

  • Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson in ‘New Moon’
     
  • Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart chat during the presentation of their new film ‘The Twighlight Saga: New Moon’ during the HVB youth event at the Olympic Hall on November 14, 2009 in Munich, Germany
     
  • Taylor Lautner and Robert Pattinson arrive at the afterparty for the premiere ‘The Twilight Saga: New Moon’ at the Hammer Museum on November 16, 2009 in Los Angeles, California
     
  • Robert Pattinson runs his fingers through his hair as he hits ‘The Twilight Saga: New Moon’ premiere red carpet, LA, Nov. 16, 2009
     
  • Michael Sheen in Summit’s ‘New Moon’
     
  • Alex Meraz, Kiowa Gordon, and Chaske Spence as werewolves in ‘New Moon’