Alix Earle Reveals This Week’s ‘DWTS’ Routine Almost Didn’t Happen After an Injury

The vulnerable routine was one of the highlights of the night, but an injury during dress rehearsal almost changed things.

VALENTIN CHMERKOVSKIY, IZABEL EARLE, ALIX EARLE / Disney/Eric McCandless

Alix Earle has been killing it on Dancing With the Stars this season, but she recently revealed that an unfortunate incident during this week’s dress rehearsal almost changed her latest routine.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Dancing With The Stars #DWTS (@dancingwiththestars)

Earle’s DWTS journey so far

In case you’ve missed it, Earle and her pro dance partner, Val Chmerkovskiy, have been dominating the ballroom, frequently finding themselves among the top five couples when it comes to the judges’ scores. This week was no exception, as the pair took on an emotional Contemporary routine set to “Sparks” by Coldplay for “Dedication Night.”

Earle and Chmerkovskiy earned a total score of 35/40 for their number to tie with Robert Irwin and his partner, Witney Carson, for the second-place spot on the leaderboard (with both dancing duos being just one point shy of Dylan Efron and his partner, Danielle Karagach, who scored a 36/40).

You can check out our full recap of Week 5 here!

An injury during dress rehearsal

For “Dedication Night,” the stars are asked to dedicate their dance number to someone important in their lives, and Earle elected to dedicate the routine to her younger sister, Izabel. As part of the themed evening, the person to whom the dance is dedicated is expected to make an appearance during the number, with Izabel joining her sister out on the hardwood.

The routine went off without a hitch during the live broadcast; however, Earle revealed on Instagram Friday that Izabel unfortunately rolled her ankle during a move that involved skipping across the stage during dress rehearsal. “We thought she wasn’t going to be able to dance,” Earle wrote in text over the concerning clip.

Still—after icing her injury and getting a pep talk from the team, which can be seen in Earle's latest vlog—Izabel got out on the dance floor and stole the show (and the hearts of viewers at home).

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Alix Earle (@alix_earle)

Fans and DWTS cast members react

And of course, plenty of Earle’s 4.7 million Instagram followers stopped by the comment section to applaud the sisters for their resilience and hard work, which resulted in a truly touching performance:

“Seeing this makes my stomach hurt. Omg,” a fan lamented. “What a champ.”

“Aw I love that Val was so quick to pick her up to save her 🥹,” another pointed out.

“You would have never known because she did an incredible job 💕💕,” one commenter added.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Alix Earle (@alix_earle)

But it wasn’t just Earle’s followers who shared their reactions to the moment, with several members of the DWTS family popping up in the comments to share some love with the sisters:

“She is a trooper,” fellow SI Swimsuit model, Olympian and 2024 DWTS runner-up Ilona Maher praised.

“Wow she is tough,” Dylan Efron added.

“I watched this happen live and gasped,” Danielle Fisher penned. “Can’t believe she powered through, but SO HAPPY she did! Such a beautiful dance and story.”

Be sure to catch Earle this Tuesday on DWTS, where the model and Chmerkovskiy will tackle “Wicked Night” to celebrate the beloved Broadway show and the upcoming sequel to the Academy Award-nominated 2024 film.

Swim Edit newsletter. Get SI Swimsuit’s Free Newsletter. light. Sign Up

---

More Alix Earle:

feed