Olympic all-around gold medal gymnast Suni Lee had to run backstage, seconds after her performance Monday on "Dancing With The Stars," with an illness. Host Tyra Banks indicated it was not related to COVID-19.
Lee tweeted earlier Monday that she was not feeling well.
"Hey guys! not feeling my best tonight but i will still be dancing for queen night! make sure you guys vote for me and sash! each week is getting scarier & intense!! love you all," she tweeted.
Lee and her professional partner Sasha Farber, performed a paso doble to Queen's "We Will Rock You." The end of the choreography saw Lee lying on the floor. After Farber helped her up, she ran off camera immediately.
"Suni is not feeling so good," Banks said. "Not COVID. Not COVID at all but she's not feeling well. So she danced sick and she had to leave but she's OK."
Lee and Farber received a 33 out of a possible 40 from the judges for their first dance. The scores are combined with real-time scoring from the viewing audience.
"Suni is such an incredible athlete and this has been such a rough week but she is in the studio. She's giving it everything," Farber said. But I just want to say, Suni, I'm so proud of you. You're incredible. I love you and thank you for being awesome."
Lee later said that something like that happening to her was unusual, but that "I knew that if I didn't come out here I'd be very disappointed in myself."
Lee and Farber returned about 45 minutes later to compete again as part of a relay. They were one of three couples to perform to a segment of "We Are The Champions" and earned one bonus point from the judges for a total of 34 on the night.
The couple survived elimination and advanced to next week's competition. WWE wrestler The Miz and his partner Whitney Carson were eliminated.
Typically on DWTS, if a competitor cannot compete live, a video of their rehearsal dance is used for the judges and audience to score. Those rehearsals are usually not as polished as the final routine.
Earlier this season, Peloton instructor Cody Rigsby and his partner, Cheryl Burke, both contracted COVID-19. Their rehearsal video was used to judge them that week since they could not perform live. While in quarantine the next week, they performed a routine remotely from two separate locations.