Kaitlyn Bristowe Still Gets Flare-Ups From 'DWTS' Injuries 5 Years Later

Dancing With the Stars season 29 winner Kaitlyn Bristowe is still dealing with lingering show injuries five years later.

“I would have said, ‘Don’t injure yourself,’” Bristowe, 40, told Tori Spelling on the Wednesday, September 10, episode of her “Misspelling” podcast of the advice she would have shared. “That was my main focus: to stop getting injured all the time.”

Bristowe won season 29 with pro partner Artem Chigvintsev in 2020, while Spelling, 52, appeared on season 33 last year. (Spelling and partner Pasha Pashkov were eliminated after two weeks of competition.)

“[My win] was worth the injuries, yes, but I’m still suffering years later from cracked ribs and pulling a muscle that was under my ribs,” Bristowe said. “My tendonitis will flare up every time I wear heels now. But, I’m, like, ‘I’ll do it again.’”

She continued, “Well, it’s crazy because one of my girlfriends had won it the season before, and I was, like, ‘Why did you not prepare me?’ She was, like, ‘I don’t think people should prepare them because then they won’t do it.’”

Fellow Bachelorette alum Hannah Brown won the mirrorball trophy the season prior, though Bristowe did not identify her pal on the podcast.

“[My friend told me that] ‘it’s so worth it,’ but it would be scary to know how much work and injuries you go through to get to the end,” Bristowe recalled. “Like, it’s crazy.”

In addition to dancing through injuries, the former Bachelorette also worked through a bout of nervousness each week.

“I definitely had nerves. I feel like I would have had 10 times more nerves if there was a crowd,” Bristowe said, referring to her pandemic-set DWTS season. “For some reason, knowing [the amount of people who were] watching on TV didn’t faze me as much. There’s something about people right there watching, but I do think I perform better under pressure.”

She continued, “The more nervous I get, the better I perform because I grew up dancing. I felt like something was missing with the energy.”

While Bristowe acknowledged that her “dance background and training” helped her succeed in the ballroom, so did fan votes.

“Bachelor Nations fans are really loyal,” she said. “Then, I feel like this season, there’s so many TikTok dancers and the two girls from the Mormons show. I feel like [they] dance better than anyone I’ve ever met. They’re all talented and good-looking and nice.”

The season 34 cast of DWTS includes TikTok star Alix Earle, Secret Lives of Mormon Wives personalities Jen Affleck and Whitney Leavitt and Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles.

Dancing With the Stars premieres on ABC and Disney+ Tuesday, September 16, at 8 p.m. ET, with new episodes streaming the next day on Hulu.

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