Gavin DeGraw performed the popular theme song 'I Don't Want to Be' live.
Days after straining her rib muscles, Jana Kramer returned to Dancing With the Stars to celebrate her One Tree Hill past.
Late last week, the 32-year-old actress and singer -- who played Alex Dupre on seasons seven through nine of The CW drama -- revealed that she had suffered torn muscles in between her ribs during dance rehearsals with her pro partner, Gleb Savchenko. Though her doctor advised her to stop dancing, she carried on like a trooper, even as the pain continued to worsen.
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“I am very worried that we’re not going to be able to see through the dance,” Kramer admitted. “I don’t want to leave the second week in.”
When it came time to do the tango with Savchenko, she was accompanied by singer Gavin DeGraw, who performed his hit song and popular One Tree Hill theme, “I Don’t Want to Be,” possibly helping diminish -- at least temporarily -- the pain Kramer was feeling.
Though the routine wasn’t perfect, Kramer absolutely aced the difficult tango with several back-bends, high leg kicks and complex, intricate turns. Once the dance ended, Kramer was in some visible pain, bending her upper body just slightly as she and Savchenko breathed sighs of relief.
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“I feel great,” Kramer told host Tom Bergeron with a huge smile on her face following her routine, admitting she’d lie even if she wasn’t feeling 100 percent.
.@BrunoTonioli shows how flexible he is and @kramergirl how flexible she can be #DWTS #TeamGlamer pic.twitter.com/HY4uy8rKBM
— Whipclip (@whipclip) September 20, 2016
Savchenko revealed that the choreography drastically changed once Kramer suffered her injury, but didn’t divulge how much was tweaked. “Yeah we had to change a few things, but it worked,” Savchenko said.
The judges felt Kramer improved from last week’s premiere performance, praising her for being “a trooper” and rewarding her for a passionate routine, giving them a combined score of 29 out of a possible 40.
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Earlier in the evening, DWTS traveled back to the 1970s with Maureen McCormick reprising her famous role on The Brady Bunch, Marcia Brady, for the opening routine.
McCormick was joined by her TV mother, Florence Henderson, who adorably kicked off the routine with her signature Brady Bunch line, “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!”
