As the competition heats up for Season 20 of Dancing With The Stars, it seems that the pro dancers and their partners are facing an increasing number of dangerous tasks ahead as they attempt to outshine one another's performance week after week. Derek Hough, the pro partnered with Olympian gold medal winner Nastia Liukin, is one of those unfortunate ones to suffer from these setbacks as he incurred very serious injuries during the rehearsal of their dance routine on Monday, according to Daily Mail UK.
According to the report, Hough broke one of his toes as well as sprained his ankle. At the moment, the official results for his health condition, which will also determine whether he is fit to return to the show, is yet to be released. However, in an official statement released by Hough's representative via E! Online, the pro dancer attempts to keep his fans and followers up to date on his condition as well as informed them of the events that transpired leading to his recent injury. Moreover, the statement gave everyone the peace of mind regarding his Dancing With The Stars partner's fate should he eventually fail to come back this season.
"While rehearsing for the 10th Anniversary Dancing with the Stars television special Monday night in Los Angeles, Derek Hough suffered injuries to his right foot and left ankle. He has been diagnosed with a broken toe on his right foot and sprains to his left ankle on both the inside and outside aspects and a bone bruise on the same ankle. Derek will remain in Los Angeles this week to rehab his injuries and his understudy will be filling in for him for New York Spring Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall in New York. While it remains unclear at this time if Derek will be able to perform on the Monday, April 27 episode of Dancing with the Stars, his partner Nastia Liukin will train in Los Angeles this week with pro-dancer Sasha Farber to prepare for the Live show."
Meanwhile, Hough has been accompanied by some of his friends during this trying time. Mark Ballas, another pro dancer in Dancing With Stars, has been lending support to his fellow contestant. "It sucks. It's unfortunate," Ballas shared. "Hopefully he's going to be OK. The MRI results will come in [today] probably and we'll know more, but we're just praying that everything's OK," he added.
Sharna Burgess, another pro dancer, expressed her concern over the effects of the changes in Liukin's performance. "Nastia, my heart goes out to her, just passed midway in the season, having to change pros," she said. "We build a language between each other on how we work with each other and that's what enables us to be able to do what we do every week with all the pressure and the stress, trying to do things that are unnatural for these people. And for her to now have to change pros, it's like changing a language, changing a connection and changing trust. It's really difficult. She's incredibly talented, I know she will handle it beautifully, but it's not fun."
