‘Dancing With the Stars’ Contestant Reveals She Nearly Quit Over Her Partner’s Teaching Method

A memorable Dancing With the Stars pairing may not have been all it was cracked up to be on stage.

Jana Kramer, who competed on Season 23 of the reality dance show in 2016 with pro dancer Gleb Savchenko, revealed last week that she nearly quit the intense competition.

During Friday’s episode of her Whine Down podcast, which featured former Bachelorette and DTWS alum Hannah Brown, Kramer said that DWTS “wrecked” her.

“I struggled with the Russian…” she began, struggling to find the words before Brown cut in, “culture and the way that they teach.”

Kramer agreed, adding, “I was like, ‘Do not speak to me that way. Period.’ They didn’t show this on the show, but I was like, ‘I’m done. I quit. You can keep filming me. Don’t care. He’s being rude and I’m not having it.’”

However, the One Tree Hill ultimately did not quit the show, as fans know, and ended up in the finals with Savchenko. The couple, who were praised by judges throughout their season as having tons of chemistry together, eventually came in fourth place.

Brown, who won Season 28 in 2019 with pro dancer Alan Bersten, shared her own traumatic history with dance and the “pressure cooker” environment of the show.

“It was really redemptive,” she said. “But there would be times in the studio where he would try to teach me a step and I could not move my feet because I was so scared of messing up.” Admitting to a few “tantums” with Bersten, she said she understood why the pros were so tough on their celebrity partners.

“I was so frustrated with being talked to the way that I was talked to,” Brown said. “But then you have to realize that’s how they were talked to, that’s how they were coached, and so that’s all they know, and it’s really hard when you’re not used to that.”

Kramer agreed that Savchenko didn’t mean anything by his comments. “I knew Gleb’s intentions wasn’t that he was trying to be mean. He wanted to win too and we were close,” she said.

The revelations came shortly after DWTS announced yet another celebrity contestant for its upcoming season, Season 35, this fall; the newest celebrity announced to enter the ballroom was Guillermo Rodriguez, Jimmy Kimmel’s longtime late-night sidekick.

Rodriguez, 55, will join Love Island star Maura Higgins, Summer House darling Ciara Miller and Savannah Bananas player Jackson Olson, among many others who have yet to be announced.

Despite the new season still being months away, the prediction markets are still taking bets on who is most likely to win. In a Polymarket scenario predicting Season 35’s outcome, Miller is currently leading the odds, with a 96% chance of taking home the Mirrorball Trophy.

Another Polymarket bet is taking odds on which yet-unannounced celebrities will wind up joining the cast. The current favorite is Love Island USA star Rob Rausch, who has 50% odds. Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Miranda McWhorter has a 46% chance of joining, but fans will likely have to wait until the fall to know for sure who will be competing in the ballroom.

The cast of DWTS Season 35, which does not yet have a premiere date, will be announced on Sept. 2’s episode of Good Morning America.

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