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Backstage Buzz: Cristian May Need to Quit Dancing
Cheryl Burke and Cristian de la Fuente by Kelsey McNeal/ABC
In a split second, the buoyant mood in the ballroom shifted. And all it took was the look of pain and worry on Cristian de la Fuente's face to change it. The Latin soap star and his partner Cheryl Burke were doing their samba when his left arm suddenly stopped working. "In the very beginning of the dance, I fell back into his arms and I heard something crack," says Burke, who was in tears after the show. "I thought it was my dress making that sound. I didn't think it was anything else."
De la Fuente kept going as long as he could, but by the end of the minute and a half, he was clutching his left arm. He couldn't complete the dance. "It really did have to be more than a muscle cramp," says Burke, "because he's not the type of guy to just go out there and give up. He's a strong man."
What was Cheryl thinking as she saw her partner struggling on the dance floor? "I was like, 'Oh my god, what's happening?'" she recalls. "I didn't know what was going on. So I just went ahead and finished the routine. I fell at the end. Whatever. You gotta keep going. It's a live show, you know?"
"I just wanted someone to take him off the floor," says Edyta Sliwinska. "To know that you're hurting – especially if you're a guy – and to know that everyone is watching? The cameras should not be on him. So that got me a little angry."
As Tom Bergeron cut to commercial, Burke and De la Fuente rushed backstage, as did De la Fuente's wife, Angelica, who sits ringside every night. Exec producer Conrad Green quickly conferred with the judges, who decided to judge the samba routine up to the point where De la Fuente had to stop. "You never expect something like this to happen," says Mark Ballas, who had his own scary incident during last season's finale, when his left shoulder dislocated during an encore cha-cha with Sabrina Bryan. His left arm was also hanging useless by the end of the dance. "All of a sudden, ping, your shoulder's on your back and your arm's flapping around. But De la Fuente was there for Cheryl. He didn't stop. He didn't walk off the floor. I'm proud of him."
The on-set EMT would diagnose De la Fuente as having a "severe muscle cramp," but the dancers all worried that it was something more serious. "I have injured myself in the past, but I never actually had to pull off the floor," says Karina Smirnoff, who underwent arthroscopic surgery for a neck injury just before the start of the season. "The adrenaline is kicking in so much that you don't really feel the injury until after the performance. But the fact that he had to stop means that it was really serious."
"Seeing him being carried out on a stretcher without even a smile in his eyes is not a good thing," says Marissa Jaret Winokur.
According to De la Fuente's publicist, he left the emergency room at 7:30 pm/PT — about an hour after he was admitted — and went home. He will undergo more tests Tuesday, and Dancing with the Stars will address his future plans on the show tonight. As of Tuesday afternoon, the buzz was that if an MRI suggested major damage, Cristian would need to bow out of the competition.
In Dancing's six seasons, De la Fuente is the first celeb to be injured, though it's a wonder it hasn't happened before. Now that the stars are dancing two dances a week – with no downtime – the chances of injury multiply exponentially. "On a scale of 1 to 10," says Tony Dovolani, "the level of difficulty is an 11." Winokur concurs. "There were times this week when I was laughing and crying at the same time because I'm so tired," she says. "Mentally, my brain can't take any more information. And physically, everything hurts."
How will De la Fuente cope with the situation? "We have very similar personalities," says Derek Hough. "Both very stubborn. He'll fight his way out. Even if he's got a full-on cast, I think he'll get out there and dance." — Deborah Starr Seibel
More Dancing news:
• Maks Is Back for Dancing's 100th Show
• Cristian Injured While Dancing Samba with Cheryl
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Apr 29, 2008 10:46 AM
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I'm no doctor, but it looked worse than a severe muscle cramp to me. I got scared when I saw him stagger...like the pain was so severe that it made his knees buckle.
Cristian, get well soon. Hopefully, we'll see you next week.
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Apr 29, 2008 11:14 AM
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Cristian de la Fuente may not be the best dancer, but his personality on air and his improvements over the course of the season have made him one of my favorites.
I have nothing but good thought and wishes for his swift and full recovery.
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Apr 29, 2008 11:54 AM
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How sad and I hope he'll be okay and back to dancing. He's done an amazing job and when I saw what was going on and the pain and uselessness of his arm I got reallys scared, but what a trouper he was to go on with the dance. Hope he'll be okay and that we'll hear good news tonight!! HEY maybe more people will vote for him than would have and he'll stay on the show? Though winning that way wouldn't be a win.
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Apr 29, 2008 12:05 PM
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TMZ is reporting this:
"Spies at "Dancing with the Stars" tell TMZ Cristian de la Fuente suffered a really gnarly injury and will likely pull out of the competition.
The spies say surgery is now a real option. He's set to see a specialist this morning. We're told the producers and dancers will meet at the CBS lot -- where the show is taped -- at 10:00 AM for a status update."
I really hate that this happened! I really like Cristian; actually I like him a lot more than even Jason or Mario because of his personality and the way he is just so carefree. I hope he gets better soon!
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Apr 29, 2008 12:34 PM
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Oh my God, I am very sorry for him. I hope that he can come back to dance again, a least one more time. but, I can say that their is few people that had been posting their opinion about what had happen to Christian, and they are accusing him of being a "fake" and a "fraud" and let me tell you something for those people, you do not know what you are talking about. Christian is the most improve of the men in the show after Jason and he deserve to be a least on the last four or three in the competition. sometime people can be so mediocre and so negative. sometime opinion like some the I had read in the ABC blog's are unethical and discriminate against. Christian I can believe that there is or still people with that prejudice. sometime you have to think before posting your own opinion even is your opinion. Anyway I hope Christian come back and everything it's all right we support you Christian and love you!!!!
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Apr 29, 2008 12:54 PM
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Cristian is not our favorite,but the judges said"We will judge from the point that the injury occurred". Cristian's performance up to that point was much better than 7's ,so they lied and that was unfair to him.
We actually think the judges are not consistant in the judging any way.
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Apr 29, 2008 12:57 PM
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My thoughts and prayers are with Christian de la Fuente. He's been one of my favorites all season and I've been voting for him all along. I hope he'll be ok and that nothing serious is wrong. How awful that must have been for his wife to see him in so much pain. Hang in there, Christian, we're pulling for you!
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Apr 29, 2008 1:09 PM
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Ever heard of Karma, Cristián? Only last Monday on Entertainment Tonight - right before the competition - he and Cheryl were making fun of Derek and Shannon. "All you have to do is get an injury and go to the hospital and cry."
I can't rejoice about anyone getting hurt, but there you go. They basically said that Derek and Shannon were faking an injury in order to get more votes, and now Cristián gets hurt. That's the way life teaches us lessons so we can grow up and develop empathy for the people around us. I hope they learn.
I think they should apologize to their competitors. That said, I hope Cristián recovers in time to compete again.
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Apr 29, 2008 1:17 PM
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I thought at first the had arm braces on as part of the costume and one had flown off into an audience mention and he was torn between apologizing and finishing (he being a real gentleman as far as I can tell), but I then started thinking, crap, is he having a heart attack? I don't know how old he is but it possibilty he is now the oldest in the competition. But then what he was saying, I starting thinking about dance injuries my fellow class members got in random circumstances. They would be doing nothing out of the ordinary and they would pull a muscle or, worse, a muscle would pull away from the bone. I hope he is okay, because he is my favorite guy left and especially when he goes all leading man in the ballroom numbers. I thought his scores on the samba were unfair given he really didn't lose it until the last sixteenth count of the dance.
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Apr 29, 2008 1:35 PM
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They did not judge up to the point of injury. That's bull. If they had, they would have gotten scores higher than 7's. The dance up to that point was really good. The judges are never fair or consistent and the scores are rarely based on the given dance.
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Apr 29, 2008 2:17 PM
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I felt bad for him last night. I hope he's ok. I don't think they were fair in their judging of his dance, up until he was injured, he was doing a good job. I hope he recovers, because he's fun to watch.
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Apr 29, 2008 2:18 PM
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I felt horrible for Cristian. It definatly looked like more than just a cramp. I hope that enough people voted to keep him there as he certainly is a good dancer. I hope everything turns out ok for him and he's able to continue on. 
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Apr 29, 2008 3:43 PM
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I was voting for Cristian as the underdog the entire season! I wish him nothing but the best for a speedy recovery.
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Apr 29, 2008 5:50 PM
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This totally sucks. Well, I checked my myspace page and I only got the standard day-after "don't forget to vote" bulletin and there was nothing on his actual page. I imagine his pr people do this in advance, but maybe it's a good sign?
I personally didn't think he was dancing his best in the samba - and this was before the missed handgrab with Cheryl and you knew something was wrong - but then again I don't know exactly when he got hurt. If it was in the beginning in the dance, like Cheryl thinks, with all that adrenaline it may have just knocked him off his game a little before the REAL pain hit.
I really hope it's something that is recoverable enough to keep dancing. Karma or no, I don't wish that kind of pain on anyone.
Again, kudos to quick-thinking Tom Bergeron. If he was as scared as I was(physical activity + suddenly dazed clutching right arm = heart attack?!) he hadnled it like the ultimate, compassionate pro that he is. Emmy please!
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Apr 29, 2008 6:41 PM
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