Elaine Hendrix isn’t ready to take her last bow.
After a rib injury sidelined the Parent Trap star during the Oct. 28 episode of Dancing With the Stars—forcing the series to air her final dress rehearsal with partner Alan Bersten in lieu of a live performance—Elaine shared an update on her health from her doctors.
“They can't exactly know whether I tore a muscle or whether it's strained," she said in her pre-performance video package during the Nov. 4 episode. "I'm doing everything I can to heal, including not dancing for a couple of days, which is stressing me out."
Despite the injury, though, doctors allowed the 54-year-old to return to the dance floor.
“I'm so grateful that we get to keep going,” she continued. "I'm expecting to feel pain. I don't care."
Indeed, Elaine powered through and danced a Viennese waltz with Alan to Dionne Warwick's "What the World Needs Now" in honor of the episode's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame theme. The performance ultimately earned rave reviews and a cumulative 37 from judges Derek Hough, Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and guest judge Flavor Flav.
“I have received so much love and support right now," Elaine told host Julianne Hough after her performance. "I am beyond grateful and thank you all so much."
She concluded, "I am feeling very solid and strong and grateful."
Elaine previously confirmed to fans she was “doing okay” after missing the special Halloween episode of season 34.
“I am up and about,” she added in her and Alan’s Oct. 29 Instagram video. “I’m tender, I am sore, but I am starting pain management today.”
Alan, meanwhile, expressed gratitude to the fans for keeping the duo in the competition.
“We just want to say thank you so much for voting for us and showing so much love to Elaine and support,” the dance pro said. “We can feel it, and we appreciate it so much.”
After all, Elaine has been candid about how Dancing With the Stars has offered her another opportunity to pursue the passion she’s had since her youth, before a car accident took her budding dance career to a halt at age 21.
“This really is genuinely a second chance,” she told Women’s Health in an interview published Oct. 7. “There's been so many times I thought, ‘Oh, I want to go find an adult dance class,’ and either I couldn't find one or it wasn't close enough, or I just didn't maybe really have a strong enough intention, maybe some fear around going to do that.”
And for anyone feeling that hesitation in their own lives, she is encouraging them to push through it.
“It's really hard to say yes to something new, and it can be scary, but it's so worth it,” she affirmed. “There's no discomfort that's going to be greater than the feeling of accomplishment.”
For more on the season 34 cast of Dancing With the Stars, read on.
Baron Davis
Partnered with Britt Stewart
Jennifer Affleck
Partnered with Jan Ravnik
Alix Earle
Partnered with Valentin Chmerkovski
Dylan Efron
Partnered with Daniella Karagach
Corey Feldman
Partnered with Jenna Johnson
Elaine Hendrix
Partnered with Alan Bersten
Robert Irwin
Partnered with Witney Carson
Jordan Chiles
Partnered with Ezra Sosa
Scott Hoying
Partnered with Rylee Arnold
Whitney Leavitt
Partnered with Mark Ballas
Hilaria Baldwin
Partnered with Gleb Savchenko
Andy Richter
Partnered with Emma Slater
Danielle Fishel
Partnered with Pasha Pashkov