Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy fall on 'Dancing With the Stars,' get back up
Kirstie Alley may have leaned a little too much on "Dancing With the Stars" partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy during their rumba Monday night, leading to the painful tumble the pair took in the ballroom.
Chmerkovskiy, her professional partner on the show whom the Ministry likes to call "the shirtless wonder," said that his thigh gave out and he experienced a "charlie horse" during their routine.
Before they performed, Alley said the dance was supposed to reflect a really difficult time in her life when she lost her mother in a car accident in the 1980s. Perhaps Alley saying it showed "the agony and the ecstasy" was live television's version of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The sweet dance, set to Israel Kamakawio'ole's version of "Over the Rainbow," started off serenely dramatic until the thigh issue. Watch the video above.
The poor shirtless wonder struggled to get up and back on count after taking a few seconds to recover.
"It was sweet. He just looked at me and said, 'Let's keep dancing,'" Alley told E! of the fall. "And I thought, 'I like that.' I have the best partner!"
And Chmerkovskiy said he was pretty embarrassed by the whole thing. "To all the fans...I'm sorry! It will never happen again and I will never 'fall'! To @kirstiealley You were..FLAWLESS! In more ways than one!" he tweeted post-show.
Hear that George Lopez?
"woke up to all of your supportive tweets..humbled..It's good to know that u are in this game with us come RAIN or come SHINE....thank u," Alley tweeted Tuesday morning. Adding, "Maks is too humble.. we all know it takes TWO to Tango..on our feet or on our asses...it takes TWO ..I will do better from now on...xoxo."
But the dance was still pretty stunning and like Bruno Tonioli told Alley, "Once you got up it was better than ever," scoring the pair 21 points out of 30.
What did you think of the dance? Was it agony or ecstasy to watch? Tell us in comments.
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Chmerkovskiy, you are a true gentleman!
Posted by: B | Apr 05, 2011 at 02:43 PM
On a Richter scale, the ground shook a 2.5...not major...Kirstie will bounce back...no pun intended...really..har, har...
Posted by: Dancingbear | Apr 05, 2011 at 05:33 PM
I don't think any two people could have recovered any more gracefully.
Posted by: Cindy | Apr 05, 2011 at 09:07 PM
It was missing some necessary components of the rumba, because Kirstie was too fat to do them. They are excusing her lack of moves and letting her get away with phoning in the steps because of her weight. That is inexcusable. No one gave Jennifer Grey a break because of her cancer bout and back surgeries. In fact, she was often mocked online because of them.
Yes, Maks had a muscle cramp. A muscle cramp caused by trying to drag a Scientologist around who weighs more than he does.
Posted by: CKO | Apr 05, 2011 at 09:56 PM
Both of them are amazing. That about sums it up. Poor Maks was in so much PAIN you could see it after the dance, I feel for him. What I'm also seeing with this round is Maks is connecting with his partner. You see his amazing ego take a back seat for once, and you see his sweet, caring and considerate side, plus imo it's the BEST partner he's had in a while.
As for you Debbie downers, in case you haven't noticed, Kristie has been struggling with weight loss for years. She may relapse, but she keeps trying, she gets back on that horse, or in this case, she keeps dancing. I've already seen her self-esteem issues, it may be hard for some of you little perfectionists to spot, but any average American can see and understand her struggle.
You two are shining, keep it up!
Posted by: Lover | Apr 06, 2011 at 10:45 AM