This could get ugly: When it became clear on Monday that pros Derek Hough and Mark Ballas were battling a bad bug, producers at
Dancing With the Stars started sending out e-mails, encouraging the troops to get flu shots. Which means that there was no preemptive strike at the beginning of the season, and according to an informal survey we took on the press line, most of the stars and the pros have yet to be inoculated against any kind of flu - swine or otherwise. “I’ve had the flu a thousand times, but I’ve never, ever experienced what I did this week,” says Hough after the show. He looks pretty normal, if a little shaky.
These pros don’t know the meaning of the word “sick.” So when it was announced that Maksim Chmerkovskiy was stepping in Monday night for Hough, you knew it had to be pretty bad. “I started feeling sick last Wednesday night,” says Hough. “On Thursday morning about 3 o’clock in the morning I work up sweating, and my bed was just soaking wet. I had a temperature of 104 degrees and had to sleep in the bathtub. I literally could not move. I’m not gonna lie, I was brought to tears a few times, it was so painful.”
It’s not surprising that Hough’s best friend, Ballas, got sick, too. But what
is surprising is that neither of their partners has taken a nosedive - yet. “Being a mom,” says Ballas‘ partner, actress Melissa Joan Hart, “you pick your spots. Hopefully, I’m not going to catch it.”
“I started feeling a little bad last Friday,” says Hough’s partner, Joanna Krupa, “but I went to my doctor right away. So far, I’m fine.”
What makes the situation even more frustrating is that all sixteen pros have been gearing up for the Michael Jackson tribute on Tuesday night. According to sources, the music will be a medley of “I Want You Back,” “The Man In The Mirror,” and “Thriller.” Jackson family members are expected to be in the audience. “I had the honor of going to the memorial service,” says Ballas. “I hear that his mother is a big fan of the show. We did a tribute here to Patrick Swayze, so of course we’re going to do one for Michael Jackson.”
“People ask me, ‘What’s your favorite Michael Jackson move?’” says Hough. “It’s not a move. It’s the
way he did it. It’s the impact, the conviction. When I dance - every time I dance - I have that impact in the back of my brain. I don’t even think about it, but it’s there. I’m kind of nervous about tomorrow night, your know? I want to make sure we do him justice.”