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Dancing with the Stars 5

Cheryl Burke misses 'Dancing with the Stars' tour stops due to pain

By Christopher Rocchio, 12/20/2007

Dancing with the Stars - The Tour kicked-off in Seattle on Tuesday night without one of it's biggest stars.

Two-time Dancing with the Stars professional mirror ball trophy winner Cheryl Burke missed the winter tour's opening night after she experienced pain that required a visit to the hospital, her representative told E! News on Wednesday.

"Last night, during run-through, I was cramping and in pain," Burke told TV Guide, according to E! News. "I couldn't even stand up straight."

More Dancing with the Stars 5 News

Burke -- who won Dancing with the Stars' second-season title with Drew Lachey and the third-season crown with Emmitt Smith -- was reportedly told she could be suffering from appendicitis. Instead of performing on the tour's Sacramento stop last night, E! News reported the 23-year-old flew home to San Francisco for a second opinion.

"I hope it doesn't require surgery," Burke told TV Guide.

Needless to say, former Dancing with the Stars professional Louis van Amstel -- who is choreographing the tour for the third straight season -- is characterizing Burke's absence from the 37-city North American tour as a "disaster."

"Cheryl can't be gone for more than a week. I won't let her!" van Amstel told TV Guide.

Due to Burke's absence, her partner on the tour -- Lachey -- was instead paired with professional Karina Smirnoff.

"We had a couple of moments when we ran onto the floor at the wrong time, in the wrong place, in the wrong direction," Smirnoff told E! News. "But that won't happen tonight."

In addition, Dancing with the Stars fifth-season celebrity participant Sabrina Bryan danced with professional Derek Hough instead of her regular partner and current boyfriend Mark Ballas, who is still recovering from a dislocated right arm, according to E! News.

(Photo credit ABC)

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