His publicist said the lifts in the dance "tweaked his neck."
His partner, Karina Smirnoff, said he was in pain all day and immediately saw a doctor on the premises as soon as the show was over.
"It's kind of started to swell up, so they finally got the doctor in," Smirnoff said. "We were kind of hoping not to get eliminated, but hope dies last and it's pretty much dead at this point. We know the verdict."
Sorrentino was at or near the bottom of the judges' leader board all four weeks he danced -- and all four weeks, he said he was giving it his all. It just wasn't enough.
"He brought everything to the table," Kurt Warner said. "What you saw on the dance floor might not have been the best, but he brought everything he had and I think that's how he approaches life."
"Off camera, he's so sweet, so generous, very kind, very giving, very loving and a lot of great, great humor," said Bristol Palin's partner, Mark Ballas. "Great dude, down to earth and we're going to miss him."
"It's sad that we left so early," Smirnoff added. "I think he had so much more in him to develop and improve and come out of the shell, but what's done is done and now we're able to concentrate on other projects we've got going on."
Goo Goo Dolls and Florence and the Machine performed on the show. There was also a Macy's Stars of Dance performance.
Now the remaining eight teams are concentrating on next week's dances.
"You're going to be hypnotized by Rick (Fox's) hips," said Fox's partner, Cheryl Burke.
They've got the rumba.
Florence Henderson and her partner have the tango. Now they'll have to wait and see if they can get the song they want.
"They're trying to clear 'The Brady Bunch' theme song," Henderson said.
"But it's not cleared yet, so we've got our fingers crossed," said her partner, Corky Ballas.
