The former Bachelorette hurt her ankle before performing her leaderboard-topping dance.
Kaitlyn Bristowe performed through an injury on this week's Dancing With the Stars. ET's Lauren Zima spoke to the former Bachelorette and her partner, Artem Chigvintsev, after their leaderboard-topping foxtrot, a dance that almost didn't happen after Bristowe hurt her ankle.
"It was a little sore at first. We had a couple of rehearsals and I had to take off my heel and I stepped on my bare foot and I was like, 'Oh no.' I could not put weight on it," Bristowe recalled of the first sign of injury. "I just broke into tears and I went straight to physical therapy."
While Bristowe first thought, "Hey universe, not fair," about her injury, she quickly changed her focus into figuring out a way to dance this week.
"It was definitely the worst case scenario to think about and not ideal. At one point, I just sat on my couch and cried. I was like, 'Please, God, no. Just let me do this,'" she said. "My heart was broken. I was like, 'I don't even care... I still have to dance through it.' They [were] like, 'I don't know if you can,' but I was like, 'But I will.'"
That determination led Bristowe and her team to do "everything we could" to get her on the ballroom floor.
"I wrapped it and I saw a doctor. I was lucky enough to get cortisone shots and that is how I was able to get out there and do what I had to do," she said.
"We are just lucky we had a doctor come in here and give her a cortisone shot, because if that was not the case, I don't think tonight [would've been] a good night for us," Chigvintsev added.
A good night it was, despite the fact that, even with the shot, Bristowe's ankle remained "a little sore" throughout her performance. In fact, she and Chigvintsev got a 22/30, the highest score of the night.
"I am very grateful that I was able to pull through," Bristowe said. "I hope I am able to recover from this, but as of right now, I feel great."
Now that this dance is behind them, Bristowe is taking things "day by day" as she awaits the results of an MRI.
"We are actually going to find out what is causing that problem because I think it is important to know," Chigvintsev said. "Then we can plan for what we can actually do. At this point right now, we are not doing much."
While Bristowe quipped that she'd "dance on a broken ankle" if the MRI results aren't positive, she insisted that she's "not going to worry about that until it happens."
"I know I live in the moment, that is part of who I am. Right now I am really happy about the dance we just did and tomorrow we will get answers," she said of the planned MRI. "I feel like I am supposed to be here, so I have positive thoughts."
"I will probably go home and realize the pain my ankles are in and cry, but I feel a lot of gratitude," she added. "Artem is so supportive and sweet and always making sure I feel my best before going out there and performing. I am just trying to get really solid rest tonight."
For more on this season of DWTS, tune in to Entertainment Tonight on Wednesday.
RELATED CONTENT:
