And season 17 has its first injured celebrity dancer. Dancing With the Stars fan favorite Bill Nye suffered an injury during his performance on Monday night, E! News has confirmed. TV’s beloved Science Guy is seeking treatment and could potentially need surgery after hurting his knee while dancing with partner Tyne Stecklein. “We can confirm Bill Nye was injured during his performance last night and is currently seeking medical attention,” a rep for ABC tells us. “We will continue to keep you posted on his progress.”
Though Nye was the lowest-scoring contestant after the first two performances of the season (his first dance only received 14 out of 30 points from the judges), he eluded elimination during DWTS’ first ouster, which saw former NFL star Keyshawn Johnson leaving the competition. Nye’s first performance on the ABC series became a viral hit, racking up three million viewers on YouTube, something he wasn’t expecting. “I mean it’s the cha cha with a guy in a lab coat. That was a great surprise,” Nye admitted after Monday night’s show. “What it says to me that is we are the lowest judges scores by a fantastic factor, but what’s keeping us in it is the show, so we are going to keep bringing the show!”
On Monday night, Nye continued to please the crowd by dressing up as Ludwig van Beethoven as he danced to the composer’s Fifth Symphony, earning 17 points from the judges. MENSA members (you need an IQ of 132 to become a member!) were in the audience to support Nye, all wearing lab coats. Should he be able to continue, Nye and Steicklein are set to perform the Jive next week, a dance she told us they were “very excited” to perform as they were going to incorporate Nye’s “social swing background.”
Nye wouldn’t be the first DWTS competitor to have to undergo surgery due to rigorous rehearsals for the show: Olympian Misty May-Treanor went under the knife after tearing her Achilles’ tendon, Cristian de la Fuente has surgery after one of his tendons detached from the bone in his arm and Gilles Marini had to have shoulder surgery after his time on the show.