Cristian de la Fuente waltzed away from Dancing with the Stars with a torn muscle in his bicep and no mirror ball trophy.
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"I am at home recovering from my surgery," de la Fuente said in a statement obtained by Entertainment Tonight. "Thank you to everyone for their concern and well wishes."
During de la Fuente and Burke's April 28 live performance episode samba, his left forearm was visibly in pain towards the end of the routine. While it was initially diagnosed as a "severe muscle cramp" by an onsite EMT, de la Fuente was subsequently taken to the hospital and diagnosed with a ruptured tendon.
Despite needing surgery to repair the damage, de la Fuente ultimately decided to remain in the competition; achieved his highest judges' score of the contest the following week; and made it all the way to the sixth-season finale before undergoing surgery on Friday.
"Surgery went very nicely," de la Fuente's surgeon Dr. Neal S. Elattrache told Entertainment Tonight. "I was able to get a perfect repair of the bicep. Cristian will spend about a week in a splint then start rehab. In approximately three months he will have a full recovery and full strength back."
The surgery may have officially ended de la Fuente's Dancing with the Stars journey, however the telenovela actor still has quite a bit on his plate.
"I have hung up my dancing shoes and I will now spend time with my family and promoting my new USA Network series, In Plain Sight, which premieres on June 1 and, of course, rehab," he told Entertainment Tonight.
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio
