Lauren Alaina, 24, admitted backstage during the Oct. 30 episode of Dancing With the Stars that she was dancing with “4 hurt ribs.” She fractured one rib during the first week and has now hurt 3 more. Lauren talked with media outlets, including HollywoodLife, about what happened. “I cracked a rib week one on the left side, so I have been dealing with that the whole time, but I didn’t really want to talk about it because there is nothing they can do for it, except for me just complaining. And now, I’ve injured three on this side. People don’t understand how hard this is for people who don’t dance. It would be like me saying all of a sudden to Gleb [Savchenko], ‘Hey, can you play guitar in the band next week? I am going to teach you how to play guitar.’ It is very difficult and my body is just not used to it.”
The country singer also opened up about what she’s been doing to deal with her injuries. “Ibuprofen has become my best friend,” she continued. “I have iced it. I have been going to physical therapy. I am doing any trick in the book. There is nothing you can do. They are not broken.” She did add, “If they were broken, I would be out. They’re fractured. I haven’t had, like I said, this side x-rayed because there is nothing to do regardless. It is very painful though. We had a very tough week.”
Despite multiple hurt ribs, Lauren isn’t going to let anything stand in the way of her competition. “I am tough. I can do it,” she said. DWTS season 28 has been plagued with a number of injuries. Christie Brinkley broke her arm just days before season 28 started. Ray Lewis left the competition after an old foot injury flared up.
Lauren and Gleb are one of the 7 remaining couples in the competition. For week 8 of season 28, the couples will be performing two dances. In the first round, they’ll be performing to a style that they have not performed before. The second round is the dance-off challenge. Two couples at a time will face off against one another in the ballroom as they dance head-to-head in the same style at the same time. Dancing With the Stars season 28 airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC.