DWTS Val Chmerkovskiy Writes Of The Most Challenging Week Of The Season

Val Chmerkovskiy tells Today that this past has been it’s been it’s most challenging from them all this season on Dancing With The Stars. The workload has increased because of the team dance. Also, Thursday they found out his partner Danica McKellar has a broken rib. Here is more…

I would say last week has been the most challenging week of the season for different reasons. The workload has increased with a group dance and the pressure is higher. It’s already been two and a half months of grueling work that has taken both a mental and a physical toll. I’m doing my best with Danica when it comes to playing both sides of the fence. I’m accommodating to her physical pain and troubles, but I understand there’s a job to be delivered every Monday.

The problem is we found out on Thursday that Danica has a fractured rib. It’s a big problem. I’m responsible for her and progress, but most importantly her well-being. It’s very hard for me not to blame myself a little bit — if not a lot of it.

This is a pain that Danica’s had since week two. We tried a couple of lifts this week while rehearsing and we heard a “pop” and then it was over. The pain was so bad she started crying. We went to the hospital for another X-ray. She has a fractured rib.

We didn’t even practice on Thursday. That night, we flew out to Washington, D.C., for a science and engineering conference that she’s on the panel for. She’s doing some lectures and a book signing. We have a huge salsa number and a huge team dance. It’s not looking good right now.

We have an amazing team for our team dance, which consists of Candace Cameron-Bure, who had to travel on Wednesday, and Meryl Davis, who had to travel on Thursday, also. Derek Hough and Amy Purdy are on the team, too. I’m not worried about the team dance. I know we’re going to pull that together as a collective unit. We’ll create something amazing. As far as Danica’s solo performance, that’s all on her and me. We’ll see. We’re going to go day by day.

You can read Val’s full blog at Today.