Key Points
Jana Kramer struggled with the “Russian” approach that her Dancing With the Stars partner, Gleb Savchenko, took to training.
“It was really hard. I was like, ‘Do not speak to me that way. Period,'” Kramer said, revealing that the experience almost caused her to quit.
Kramer and Savchenko competed on DWTS season 28, where they placed fourth.
What’s harder than competing on Dancing With the Stars? Competing on Dancing With the Stars with a Russian pro partner apparently.
One Tree Hill star Jana Kramer learned how strict and demanding Russian dance culture can be back in 2016, when she was paired with ballroom pro Gleb Savchenko on season 28 of the reality competition series.
Though Kramer and Savchenko advanced all the way to the finals, where they placed fourth, Kramer was at one point so overwhelmed by his teaching style that she nearly quit.
“I struggled with the Russian…” Kramer began on Friday’s episode of her Whine Down podcast, at which point her guest, season 28 winner Hannah Brown, interjected, “culture and the way that they teach.” Kramer assented enthusiastically.
“Yes. It was really hard. I was like, ‘Do not speak to me that way. Period,” the actress recalled. “They didn’t show this on the show, but I was like, ‘I’m done. I quit.’ I was like, ‘At that point, you can push me so far… we’re done here.'”
Brown could relate. Though the Bachelor and Bachelorette alum took home the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy on her season, she also struggled with her pro partner, Alan Bersten, who is of Russian descent.
“It was really. I had a lot of blowups of saying things because I was so frustrated with being talked to the way that I was talked to,” she explained. “But then you have to realize — that’s how they were talked to. That’s how they were coached, so that’s all they know. It’s really hard when you’re not used to that and you’re not a professional dancer and this is not your career. It definitely caused a lot of conflicts.”
Kramer was also able to contextualize the rigor of Savchenko’s instruction as a product of his own rigorous dance origins. “I knew Gleb’s intentions [weren’t] that he was trying to be mean. He wanted to win too,” she said.
Savchenko was born in Moscow, and started dancing at just seven years old. In a 2018 interview, he gave an insight into how heavy expectations were laid on him before he’d even come of age.
“I was not successful at my first competition and my mum was really upset with me. My mum had this whole conversation with me telling me that I needed to be more focused, more competitive and needed to show my talent on the dance floor,” he shared at the time. “I wanted to make my parents proud, and at the age of 9 I started winning competitions.”
Though they had an occasionally fiery dynamic as partners, Kramer has spoken highly of Savchenko since their time on DWTS together.
“Throughout the years, we haven’t stayed in touch a lot, but I will say, I greatly appreciated [when] you reached out to me when you heard about my breakup,” she told Savehcnko in a 2021 episode of her podcast, referring to her separation the same year from Mike Caussin. “You’ve been so sweet and kind through it because, you know, you’ve walked the same path.”
You can listen to Friday’s full episode of the Whine Down with Jana Kramer podcast above.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
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