Madonna reveals whiplash injuries after stage fall

Madonna reveals whiplash injuries after stage fall

LONDON - Pop icon Madonna claimed she was left with whiplash following her on-stage tumble at the Brit Awards and said that she will not be wearing the offending Armani cape at future shows.

Appearing on British channel ITV's Jonathan Ross show, the 56-year-old explained: "I didn't hurt my butt, I hurt my head. I know how to fall, I've fallen off my horse many times. I tucked and I have good core strength.

"But the thing is, I had a little bit of a whiplash and I smacked the back of my head. So there was a man standing over me with a flashlight until about 3am making sure I was still compos mentis," she added, according to extracts released on Friday, using the phrase indicating someone is of sound mind.

"Madge" blamed the embarrassing spill at Wednesday's award ceremony in London on having to change her performance between rehearsal and showtime, which meant her extravagant cape had to be tied more tightly around her neck.

"So here I am marching in like the Queen and I got to the top of the stairs and I pulled my silky string and it did not come undone," she said.

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"My two lovely Japanese dancers basically strangled me off the stage. I had a choice - I could either be strangled or fall with the cape, and I fell."

Surrounded by muscular dancers wearing bondage-style costumes and horns on their heads, she quickly picked herself up and continued singing "Living For Love", ironically peppered with lines like "I'm not giving up, I'm gonna carry on" and "Lifted me up, and watched me stumble".

"I'm never writing lyrics like that again!," she joked.

Despite her dignified recovery, Madonna refused to watch a re-run of the incident.

When discussing her future performances, the "Material Girl" singer said that "cape fear is over", and that she was dumping the floor-sweeping garment.

"I rehearse and I rehearse and I rehearse so that when I do the show, it's effortless and I create magic and I did the opposite. I actually created a horror show for everyone," she said.

The Madonna Special will air on March 14.

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