Katherine Jenkins suffered a back injury while performing on Monday’s “Dancing with the Stars” semifinals.
At press time, it was not clear how serious the Welsh classical singer’s injury was, but she was well enough to be present for the traditional show closing, which features all the couples. However, as the cameras panned to Katherine, who was being comforted by her professional dancing partner Mark Ballas, she looked to be in pain.
It was during the singer’s second competition number – at the tail end of the pair’s salsa – that she appeared to suffer the injury.
Mark spun Katherine around, she did a backbend, and as he was stepping over her, she seemed unable to support herself and fell to the ground. The singer quickly got up, and tried to finish the number, but fans could see her wincing.
Mark quickly leapt in, holding her up and telling her, “I got you.”
Clearly embarrassed, the singer didn’t want to explain what happened until she was in the lounge upstairs, after the judges praised the semifinalist’s salsa.
“I just felt my back go as I went back,” she told co-host Brooke Burke, right before the pair received consecutive 9s from the judges, for a total of 27 – their lowest score of the night.
An Access Hollywood producer spotted Katherine wearing an ice pack backstage shortly thereafter and at the end of the show, co-host Tom Bergeron said Katherine would be receiving medical attention.
Sadly, for Katherine, the slip at the end of the salsa cost the couple greatly as they landed at the bottom of the leaderboard, one point behind Donald Driver and Peta Murgatroyd, who ended the night in third with 57 out of 60.
Katherine and Mark’s first dance had been stunning – a quickstep that Bruno Tonioli said had “all the energy and razzle dazzle of the roaring ‘20s.”
It earned Katherine and Mark a near-perfect 29 points (Judge Len Goodman was the 1-point hold out).
While Katherine slipped in the rankings, Maria Menounos took the top leaderboard spot with her partner, Derek Hough. Their first number, an Argentine tango, earned a perfect 30.
During their second number, Len caught a minor misstep that cost them one point, for a total of 59 out of 60 for the night.
Maria and Derek may have impressed the judges, but William Levy and Cheryl Burke were nipping at their heels, ending the night in second place with 58 points, 1 point off a tie for the top spot.
A tango to “Sweet Dreams” wowed judge Bruno Tonioli, who said William looked “like the dictator” of the dance, and earned the couple 28 points, but perhaps the most memorable number of the night was the pair’s saucy samba in Round 2.
The telenovela star shook his bon bon as well as Ricky Martin, leaving Carrie Ann panting so much, she had to grab a drink of water.
“You had me at hello,” she said, struggling for words.
Bruno, a William fan, commented, “Your bum! I’m gonna die with bum envy.”
And Len, too, was impressed.
“I’ve never looked at a man’s bum for so long in my life. You’re the hunk with the junk in his trunk! And the rhythm you pulled out was just fantastic,” the Brit said as they earned a perfect score.
“Dancing with the Stars” continues Tuesday at 8/7c on ABC.
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