'SYTYCD' WINNER RUSSELL EXPLAINS FINALE INJURY: 'I came down on my leg a little wrong and it got real numb and swollen,' said the dance champ.

      At the beginning of the two-hour season finale, the show hit a dramatic pause when host Cat Deely's microphone died as she simultaneously watched Ferguson being assisted onto the stage in tears. Deely quickly learned along with the audience that Russell had injured himself in the previous dance routine. 

      “I went to jump back up onstage during my three-man piece and I came down on my leg a little wrong and it got real numb and swollen and it felt like something maybe got sprained,” Russell explained to reporters after the broadcast.

      Even worse than the pain was the fact he didn't get the chance to perform his final routines onstage. "It hurt, but I was fine enough to walk, so I thought I could dance. After they tested me backstage, they told me I couldn't dance. That was the worst feeling, because my family came all the way from Boston."

      Ferguson spent the majority of the broadcast masking pain and appearing onstage on a stool to hear the results. When it was time to announce the winner, he limped out on his own and stood gingerly next to fellow finalist Jakob Karr. 

      After Ferguson was announced the winner, his bum leg was a distant memory. He pulled off his shirt, jumped, screamed, knelt on the floor and jumped again.

      “It feels crazy, a dream come true [and] everything into one,” an elated Ferguson told People.com backstage after the results. “It feels like everything has just fell into place … everything is so perfect right now. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

      “I’m really happy with the result,” said executive producer Nigel Lythgoe. “I wouldn’t have minded Jakob or Russell. But for me and how I feel about dance — I want it spread everywhere — [Russell] does that for me more than Jakob would have done. Dancers will look at Jakob and go, ‘Wow, what a brilliant dancer,’ because he is. But America will look at the charismatic performer that Russell is and will say, ‘If he has done that, I can do that.’ And remember, he didn’t win by krumping. He only krumped once the whole season, as I remember. He won by doing other styles, and that opens up for street kids.”