Las Vegas Weekly

March 4, 2009 · 7:49 AM

Photo Gallery: Jewel suffers Dancing With the Stars injury

By Robin Leach

Singer-songwriter Jewel shows her moves to dance partner Dmitry Chaplin in preparation for the eighth season of Dancing With the Stars.

Photo: ABC TV

Poetic singer Jewel was KO’d for one week during the preliminary rehearsals for the new eighth season of Dancing With the Stars that begins Monday night. She’s competing against her husband, cowboy Ty Murray, who had his knee doctor examine her.

The specialist discovered that Jewel had tendinitis in both knees, and she was ordered off her feet for a week while taking prescriptions to bring the swelling down. Jewel admitted that fans are asking if her dancing future is over even before the competition begins.

“I guess I really overdid it on the rehearsal front,” she wrote on her blog titled The Bee’s Knee. “At first, I was worried I won’t even be able to dance. Hopefully the steroids will really do the trick and I can keep bad flare-ups at bay in the future. ”

Jewel is paired with newcomer Dmitry Chaplin, and they will dance the cha-cha on Monday’s debut on ABC. Among their competitors are our former Las Vegas Academy star Julianne Hough with boyfriend Chuck Wicks, Julianne’s brother Derek Hough and Vegas regulars Denise Richards and Steve-O of Jackass notoriety.

Added Jewel: “Ty warned me not to overdo it. Now he got a big ol’ ‘I told you so.’ But my Russian partner and I have the same work ethic, and our motto has been attack! Well, it bit me in the behind, so I will have to bide my time and practice my moves in my head. It’s a setback, but I am dedicated to getting better and showing the judges and America that I can cha-cha with the best of them. Don’t count me out, as I am in this for the long run.”

Meantime, Chuck admits that he’s getting “super-frustrated” with his dance rehearsals even though Julianne is helping as much as she can. He wrote on his blog: “I have to tell you this is a lot harder than I thought! Julianne is kicking my butt! She’s such a great teacher. … I have had my moments where I just get super frustrated, and she’s right on me to pull me back in.

“We have been traveling nonstop. Between all my shows and trying to find rehearsal spaces in different small towns and cities, it seems like we never sit down. But we are having a blast! I feel like I'm getting better, and it makes me want to work harder. Julianne is also doing shows on the road, as well; she just opened up for Toby Keith, and the crowd loved her! … I’ll continue to practice away with Jules.”

Dancing With the Stars begins its eighth season Monday night, and only then will we know if Jewel has overcome her injuries, if contestant Gilles Marini from Sex and the City (fans surely remember his full-frontal nude shower scene) has mended his strained groin and shoulder muscle problems, and if Julianne and Chuck found enough time on the road for rehearsals!

Share This