Dancing with the Stars contestant Alfonso Ribeiro always puts on a good face for fans, but he's apparently really hurting from his recent groin injury.

ADVERTISEMENT

"It's been really grueling for me, because it's constantly doing treatment on my body," Ribeiro, who's wanted to be on the show since Season 1, told TVGuide.

"There's never enough hours in the day, because I've got to literally dance all day and then try to do treatment in between. So, I'll either do treatment in the morning or I do it in the evening. I had someone at my house last night show up at 9PM, working on me 'til 10:30PM, working on my body, trying to help make it last. It's really been very frustrating."

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star said he "knew it was going to be physically grueling" because he's had friends compete on the show such as Joey Fatone, Corbin Bleu and Zendaya Coleman.

"So I've known the schedule," he continued. "I knew it was going to be grueling. And even from the beginning, I felt like, if my body could hold up, I feel like I could make it all the way. I didn't figure it would break down as early as it did."

And what he means by "break down" is that he "can't do 100 percent."

"I can't get it to that next level. I feel like I'm delivering 85 percent rather than 100, because I know that if I go harder then I'm going to injure it more," Ribeiro elaborated.

"I have to give it half energy until performance night, and then I turn it up. The difference is that, anytime you do something where you don't have the ability to know what that turning up feels like ahead of time, when you get on that stage for performance, it's unknown. So there's a little bit of discomfort in that... When you have a tear in your groin, it's not comfortable to take steps."

Ribeiro explained he's getting treatments done but physical therapy isn't currently an option.

"We're not able to do physical therapy yet, because the physical therapy would actually tire the injury out too much, to where I wouldn't be able to dance... I do this thing called Cryotherapy. I go into this chamber. It's 220 [degrees] below zero and it basically removes all the swelling out of your body," the actor told TV Guide.

"And then I've been doing a lot of treatment with massage but not necessarily just straight massage. It's really just physical therapy without working the muscle on my leg. It's a lot of little stuff. When you have a tear down there it will lock up. When you're getting a massage and you feel a huge knot, it's that kind of thing -- all the way down your leg, all the way into your knee. But the injury is obviously up in the groin, so it's really just uncomfortable massaging. It's a bit crazy."

Monday night's Dancing with the Stars broadcast will feature Ribeiro channeling Fred Astaire for his "America's Choice" dance with pro partner Witney Carson.

"We have two dances this week. We've got 'America's Choice,' where America went online and chose the style of dance and the song that we're going to dance to. So, they chose the foxtrot, and we are doing it to 'Ain't That a Kick in the Head.' And then we have a trio dance, where Witney and I decided we would go with [troupe member] Lindsay Arnold," Ribeiro explained.

"Witney and Lindsay grew up together dancing in the same studio. They've known each other since they were six-years-old. So, it was an obvious choice for us to pick her. Their dance styles are very similar. It almost will look like you won't know which one's Witney and which one's Lindsay during the routine. We are doing the paso doble. It's a really strong dance, and great energy for me to have, to kind of be the man in the situation."

Ribeiro is apparently confident he can deliver a great performance.

"I feel really comfortable hitting those steps and it's really strong, so I feel really positive about that one... I said to my wife, 'It's going to be a good mix, because the dances are so different. The energy and the style is very different, and I think it's going to be a really good night for us,'" the actor said.

And as far as his future in the competition goes, Ribeiro seems very optimistic.

"The good thing is, I look at it like this. There's three weeks left. There's three shows left. I've got two and a half weeks of dealing with this pain, and then I will absolutely have time to let this thing rest and recover," he told TV Guide.

"It'll be really nice once that happens, but hopefully I can stay on the show all the way to the end and make it to the final, and deliver a hopefully amazing performance on the finale."
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON GOOGLE NEWS