The Onstage Bet Donny And Marie Osmond Made That Led To A Serious Injury
Donny and Marie Osmond, who first came to fame performing as a family as "The Osmonds," seem to have a pretty normal brother-sister relationship. The stakes may be a little higher when they issue one another a bet, thanks to their celebritydom, but their wager game for when they're performing is still the epitome of sibling rivalry. Marie, formerly part of CBS's "The Talk," dished in 2019 how she and Donny like to keep a running bet when they're performing.
"We have this bet between us that if anybody ever falls or has an accident, you keep singing," People reports the star admitting. "If you don't keep singing, you have to pay the other person 500 bucks. The whole time, I'm like, 'save the microphone, save the microphone!" the then 60-year-old joked. While stage slip-ups aren't very common, Marie's confession came on the heels of two falls during her and Donny's Las Vegas residency. The duo was performing at The Flamingo, as they had been since 2008 — the kickoff of their shockingly long in-house stint. It was during those final weeks of their 11-year-long stay when Marie suffered her first topple in September 2019.
The second time, two months later, was worse. Marie was tripped up when she transitioned from one number to the stage exit, her boot becoming stuck on the flooring. The fall, barely visible on camera, brought her painfully to her knees. She later told Donny, "I can't walk ... I think I broke my knee."
The show must go on
For seasoned performers like Donny and Marie Osmond, something like a fall isn't enough to derail the show. Marie fell, changed, and then returned to the stage to inform Donny she was seriously injured. After a bit of confusion as to why he was being summoned before his number, her brother replied, "Well, you go off stage. The first thing we got to do is take care of you," as shown on "The Talk." The entire conversation occurred mic'd and in front of the audience, who cheered Donny's willingness to let Marie go and recover.
Marie would later share a snap of herself lying on a couch with bags of ice surrounding her legs, captioning it, "The show must go on." The "Paper Roses" singer must have been quite the trooper, though, because she later confessed on the talk show that a piece of chipped bone lodged under her patella as a result of the fall. It was then revealed that she was wearing a knee brace during the daytime talk show segment, which was visible beneath the anchor table as she wore a shorter-cut dress.
"It's underneath the kneecap; I chipped off a piece," the singer explained to her co-hosts before confirming, "So I probably won't be dancing a lot, but I will be [there] — I can sing!" This likely eased ticket holders' minds, as it was unclear if her injury would prevent her from performing during the last week of shows at The Flamingo.
It wasn't Marie's first mishap on stage
Marie Osmond reacts with authenticity and grace when mishaps befall her while on stage. The performing pro didn't let either fall end the show, opting to finish their residency even if she had to do it seated. In 2012, the mother of eight kids had a slightly more embarrassing accident when she peed her pants in front of a live audience. While performing on a cruise ship with her brother, Donny Osmond, the duo was onstage having a Q&A with the audience. One question caused the siblings to break down into a fit of laughter, ultimately bringing them both to their knees.
Suddenly, Marie confesses, "I just peed my pants! Oh ship!" via E! News. Her brother, through giggles, replied, "You really did," then to the audience, "We promised you an experience. You got it!" The "I'd Love To Be Your Last" singer reportedly laughed off the incident while taking a towel to the stage to clean up any liquid. Later, her brother would praise her for how she "embraced it" after being "so embarrassed," reports the publication. He noted, "It's so important to just be yourself," before telling his sister she is "now extremely normal."
Indeed, after having children, peeing your pants can be commonplace, and Marie has had eight. Fortunately, the starlet has proven that she's able to graciously handle whatever comes her way and that seemingly nothing will ever stop her from performing.