Yana Kramer has candidly revealed that she almost quit Dancing with the Stars after dealing with allegations of “rude” behavior from her partner Gleb Savchenko.
The “One Tree Hill” alum recalled her brutal experience on season 23 of the competition series in 2016 on a recent episode of her podcast “Whine Down.”
“I was emotionally devastated by that show,” she told guest former “Bachelorette” Hannah Brown. “I had a hard time with the Russians.”
Kramer, 42, explained that he struggled with Savchenko’s teaching style, adding, “Yeah, I was like, ‘Don’t talk to me like that, man.'”
“They didn’t show this on the show, but I thought, ‘I’m done. I quit. Yeah, I know you can keep filming me. Never mind that he’s being rude, and I’m not feeling it.’
“At that point, you can push me this far, but (then) I’m like, ‘This is it.’
Although he clashed with Savchenko, an experienced dance professional who has appeared on the series since 2013, Kramer understood that his intentions were not malicious, explaining, “He wanted to win, and we were close.”
The actress and dance professional secured fourth place, ahead of Olympic gymnast Laurie Hernandez and professional Valentin Chmerkovskiy in first place.
Brown, 31, who competed against professional Alan Bersten, 32, on Season 28 of DWTS in 2019, echoed similar sentiments, saying, “There were a lot of times in the studio when he was trying to teach me steps, I couldn’t move my legs because I was afraid of failing.”
The Bachelor Nation alum admitted that while working with Bersten, he became “frustrated” by Bersten’s way of speaking and threw “tantrums.”
“But you have to understand that that’s how they’ve been talked to and coached that way and that’s all they know. It’s really hard when you’re not used to that,” she said.
In the end, Brown and Bersten took home the mirror ball trophy.
Representatives for Bersten and Savchenko could not immediately be reached for comment to Page Six.
Meanwhile, Kramer isn’t the first celebrity to admit to having a hard time on the dance series.
In fact, 2008 contestant icon Priscilla Presley revealed that she “couldn’t wait for her ex-dance partner Louis Van Amstel to be taken off the show” because he was too preoccupied with his new relationship.
“I was so nervous because my partner, who I really liked, was in a new relationship with another man,” she said in May, according to Us Weekly magazine. “He had dates planned and wanted to get this and that, and I was a little annoyed because he prioritized that over us. I felt like we could have done better.”
“DWTS” Season 35 is geared up to air on ABC and Disney+ in September 2026.
