Jewel may have to quit 'Dancing with the Stars' due to knee injury

Jewel Kilcher may have suffered a season-ending injury before the new season of ABC's Dancing with the Stars has even begun. Or maybe not.


The singer -- who is training with first-time professional Dmitry Chaplin to compete on ABC dance reality competition's upcoming eighth season  -- has developed knee tendinitis that may force her to withdraw from the competition.

"My knees have been hurting so badly that I finally broke down and talked to [my husband Ty Murray's] knee doctor yesterday. He said I have tendinitis in my knees and that I have to start a course of medicine to try and bring the swelling down," Jewel wrote in her blog on Wednesday.  "Yuck! It's mainly my left knee, and I can't believe I hurt it so badly."

Jewel stated that the injury will require her to, at minimum, stop practicing for a a couple of days -- which will obviously hamper her attempts to learn the different dances she may need to perform in the competition. However, she also acknowledged that she may have to withdraw from the competition if the swelling persists.

"I'm just worried I won't even be able to dance!" she wrote. "Hopefully these steroids will really do the trick and I can keep bad flare ups at a bay in the future."


"I have my first rehab appointment today, so I will see what that's like. Hopefully it helps the pain," she wrote.

"Ty warned me I was over doing it, and now he got a big ol' 'I told you so' in," she noted.

Murray should know something about preparing for the show and overexerting himself, as the former rodeo cowboy will also be competing on Dancing with the Stars' eighth season.  (He'll be competing with former So You Think You Can Dance contestant Chelsea Hightower, the show's other first-time professional.)

However, despite the potentially grim assessment on her blog, Jewel seemed to have changed her tune by Wednesday evening and is now presenting the injury as more of a "minor setback" than a season ending injury.

"Yes it is true I have had a minor setback in my training for Dancing With the Stars, but I am dedicated to getting better and showing the judges and America that I can cha cha with the best of them," Jewel said in a statement released to E! News. "Don't count me out as I am in this for the long run."


Dancing with the Stars' eighth season will premiere -- with or without Jewel -- with a two-hour performance episode on Monday, March 9 at 8PM ET/PT on ABC.






About The Author: John Bracchitta