Candace Cameron Bure and her dancing partner Mark Ballas recently sustained injuries during their rehearsal for the "Dancing with the Stars" Season Finale. The final episodes for Season 18 will begin tonight on ABC at 8 p.m. ET, where one dance couple will be eliminated, and will conclude with the results show on Tuesday night at 9 p.m. ET.
Bure and Ballas are one of four pairs - Amy Purdy & Derek Hough, James Maslow & Peta Murgatroyd and Meryl Davis & Maksim Chmerkovskiy - left in Season 18 of "Dancing with the Stars" scheduled to compete for the win tonight. While practicing their routine during rehearsals yesterday, however, both Mark Ballas and Candance Cameron Bure were injured. Ballas hurt his shoulder badly, and may not be able to perform this evening. Bure says she sustained a minor injury to her back and rib, but plans to push through the pain for tonight's performance.
According to CBS News, the duet was practicing a maneuver where Ballas lifts Bure onto his shoulders, when the professional dancer fell to the ground with shoulder pain. People Magazine reports that this is the second time that Ballas has injured his shoulder while on the show. He was taken to the hospital, and has been advised not to perform tonight.
"I still don't know if he's going to dance tonight, but my hopes are high that he'll push through it. I know how much he wants to dance this last dance as much as I do, together," Bure posted on her Facebook page this afternoon. Although the professional dancer seems determined to dance with Bure in the finale in spite of his injury, Bure practiced with another professional dancer for several hours yesterday in case Ballas is not able to perform tonight.
The actress says she was also hurt during rehearsals yesterday, but is still planning to perform in the season finale - "I was also injured on a minor scale yesterday and am in a lot of pain today. My back went into spasm and I have a bruised rib," she says.
Bure, who has been quite vocal about her faith throughout the "Dancing with the Stars" season, is asking for prayer - "I really appreciate all your prayers for the two of us today. Not only for the performance, but for our health and that no injury would worsen today during rehearsals," she says.
The Christian actress has demonstrated her faith on the show and in interviews, and has been applauded for promoting modesty in her costume selection throughout the season. In a recent interview with TakePart Live, Bure said confidently that she believes that God's word is the basis of true morality - "We could set our own standard, but then .. who's to say your standard is right, or your standard is right? That's why it always comes back to the foundation. For me, that's the word of God .... It's not Candace's opinion, it's not your opinion and what you think is best, it's what God says," she explained.
Her new book, "Balancing It All: My Story of Juggling Priorities and Purpose," is currently number two on the New York Times Bestseller list for non-fiction eBooks. She also plans to host the K-LOVE Fan Awards on June 1, alongside Christian artist Matthew West.
"At the end of the day, I have an audience of One," Bure said in an interview about her progress throughout the "Dancing with the Stars" season. "Thanks for riding this wave with me and for all your support and prayers," she says.
