Dancing with the Starsbrought the tricks and treats for Halloween Night on Tuesday amid the 2025 TV schedule as well as some surprises. The Parent Trap star Elaine Hendrix injured herself the morning of the show during rehearsal and had to be rushed to the hospital. Although doctors ultimately cleared her, she and partner Alan Bersten were unable to perform and judges and fans had to base scores and votes off their last full rehearsal. It was enough to keep them in for another week, and Hendrix is opening up about it.
Injuries are common on DWTS, unfortunately, as the pros and celebrities push themselves during their routine. Even Dylan Efron found himself in the ER at some point leading up to Halloween Night after his partner, Daniella Karagach, accidentally elbowed him in the nose. It was a bit more serious for Hendrix, who was feeling some pain in her ribs but, with a few days of rest, she’ll be back at it. Hosts Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough stressed that she was not out of the competition and still needed votes to make it through to next week.
Just off the rehearsal footage, the judges, including guest judge Cheryl Burke, gave her and Bersten straight 8s, and America thought they deserved to stay on, sending Jen Affleck and Jan Ravnik home. When Hendrix found out the good news, she and bestie Lisa Ann Walter, who stayed by her bedside at the hospital, were very emotional, as the former told People:
I get really emotional because I was really scared that I was going to be going home, and that was not the note that I wanted to end on. When I was notified that we made it through, we both just started sobbing and laughing and crying, and it was a real moment. I’m grateful.
I can’t imagine how heartbreaking it was for Hendrix knowing she wouldn’t be able to do the routine live and not knowing how things would go with the rehearsal footage because she wasn’t at her best. Still, the fact that she still got some pretty good scores and enough votes to keep her in the competition proves that she deserves to stay. Now, the actress is determined to make it to the end. As for how she’s operating moving forward, she said:
I’m like, ‘Okay, I can deal with this.’ I know now what the most excruciating level is, and we’ve just got to do everything possible for me not to get to that level again. And so I started the next day — I’ve gone in, I’ve been doing all the tests, and I’m doing physical therapy, and I’m on a very involved protocol, and I am 1000% determined. I was determined before. Now it’s just through the roof. One way or another, I just knew that I was going to fight through it.
Of course, between her ribs and having a titanium joint in her foot from a previous car accident, it’s difficult for Elaine Hendrix to push herself to her breaking point. However, viewers have certainly seen in the packages that she is giving it her all as much as she’s able to, and it sounds like that will continue as she gets closer to the finals. As one of the several DWTS contestants still in the game, Hendrix is willing to do whatever it takes to get that Len Goodman-named Mirrorball trophy.
Next week will be Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Night, and Hendrix and Bersten will be doing the Viennese Waltz to “What the World Needs Now Is Love” by Dionne Warwick. It will be a lot of work, but it’s nothing Hendrix can’t handle. The episode airs on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and with a Disney+ subscription.
