Jewel recently commented on her husband and Dancing with the Stars contestant Ty Murray‘s website regarding the rule that an injured contestant will be scored on a rehearsal. Bloggers and gossip columnists have spun it as cattiness and jealousy against Melissa Rycroft (who was injured last week), but Jewel is speaking out to set the record straight.

“Wow! I can’t believe my comment on [husband Ty Murray's] website got so mangled- and now gossip columns hijacked it and put words in my mouth! Go back to my original blog- I like Melissa and think she’s gifted (and a real Texas sweetheart), and I adore Steve-O. My comment had nothing to do with either of them.”

“My comment was on a sports website about a rule I have never seen in any type of competition before. Name another sport where if you can’t compete, they use your score from practice. Can you imagine an Olympic diver who can’t compete for any reason, and so they let them use their practice dives from that day? Or a chess match, for that matter. If Ty were in the same position, I’d still ask the same thing.”

“As bad as I felt for Melissa, who I hope feels better and comes back, I’m used to our cowboy athletes that live by the rule: ‘ride hurt or don’t get a score.’ It may seem harsh, but it seems like the only way to keep things honest. If you’re too hurt to compete then you can’t compete.”

I definitely understand her point of view. In normal dance competitions, the contestant just wouldn’t get to participate. It sucks, but it’s legit. However, I really find that the judges’ scores don’t count for as much as viewer votes, so I think Melissa still would have survived with no score at all. She’s got some devoted fans- myself included.

[image: WENN]

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