Former Olympian Nancy Kerrigan made headlines this year when she decided to join Season 24 of the hit network reality competition Dancing with the Stars, and it seemed like a natural fit for the graceful athlete. However, Kerrigan revealed that she was actually attending to an injury when Dancing with the Stars came calling, and that she was too excited to turn the opportunity down. Now it appears that injury, combined with a lack of constant physical exertion in her life, is taking its toll. Here's how she explained it.
Everything hurts. I'm so sore, it's insane. I haven't used a lot of these muscles in many, many years. I forgot they even were there. Training is training, it's a mindset, but I haven't trained and skated in a long time --- and these moves are totally, totally different. We're there for four or five hours just training straight and it's exhausting. It's not something like with skating where I can mark things because I know what I'm doing. This is new. so I'm trying to push hard all of those hours and I'm tired, so you get a little bit emotional and mentally drained.
First, let's all breathe a sigh of relief that in speaking of injuries and soreness, she wasn't talking about one of the most famous injuries in sports history. Namely, the one she experienced back in 1994 when she was attacked by a stooge hired by rival Tonya Harding's ex-husband, which was one of the biggest Olympic controversies of all time and changed the lives of everyone involved, but Kerrigan's physical ailments stem from something else.
Nancy Kerrigan told People that she was actually within her neurosurgeon's office, as part of an appointment to look into a spinal injury, when she got the Dancing with the Stars call. Sure, she could have blown it off or asked them to maybe call back in a year, but Kerrigan accepted, because she thought it was both an interesting opportunity to be a part of, as well as a way to please her three children, Matthew, Bryan and Nicole. Apparently, they've been watching the nimble-footed reality show together for years, so one can imagine that section of the viewership getting pretty wild on a weekly basis.
Rarely does a season of Dancing with the Stars reach its completion without one or more contestants having to exit due to one injury or another. In fact, last night's episode saw pro dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy hurting his leg, which will likely sideline him for the entire rest of the season. Here's hoping that won't be the case with Kerrigan, and that she'll be able to push through the pain on her way to a potential victory. I pity the fool who gets in her way, such as that Mr. T fellow. (Chris Kattan can't, since he's been eliminated already, following a haphazard recreation of his famed Night at the Roxbury dance moves.)
To find out what will happen next, look no further than ABC on Monday nights at 8:00 p.m. ET. And while you're waiting for more Foxtrots, Charlestons and Tangos, head to our midseason premiere schedule and our summer TV guide to see what the small screen has to offer in the near future.
