‘Dancing with the Stars’ 17: Bill Nye hospitalized after injury; may need surgery

There’s some sad news coming out now for all fans of Bill Nye on “Dancing with the Stars“: After becoming a fan favorite over the past two weeks, even to the point where his opening routine was watched on YouTube more than any other in show history, the famous “Science Guy” has been admitted to the hospital.

Speaking to E! News, a rep for ABC confirms the news that Nye suffered an knee injury during his performance last night, and is now getting attention to figure out whether or not surgery is going to be required in order for him to properly recover:

“We can confirm Bill Nye was injured during his performance last night and is currently seeking medical attention. We will continue to keep you posted on his progress.”

This news is ultimately sad for a number of reasons. For one, Nye was a big ratings draw for ABC this season, and quickly has proven to be one of the most-popular dancers on the show even despite some pretty terrible scores. Also, he was going to get to perform a dance this coming week in the jive, one that he was at least somewhat familiar with after saying that he liked to swing-dance from time to time during a pre-show interview after he was announced in the cast.

It’s very possible that the injury Nye suffered could be so severe that he is not able to continue in the competition; typically, ABC keeps the status of injuries quiet until the show actually airs on Monday night, and then they will make it clear what happened. It’s not entirely clear if this will be handled any differently.

Of course, we will have updates on the story as soon as they become available; meanwhile, click here if you want to read our full review for last night’s episode.

Photo: ABC