Jana Kramer Almost Quit 'DWTS' After 'Struggling' With Her Pro Partner's 'Russian' Teaching Techniques: 'Do Not Speak to Me That Way'

One Tree Hill alum Jana Kramer, 42, got a crash course in the intensity of Russian-style dance coaching all the way back in 2016, after being matched with professional dancer Gleb Savchenko, 42, for Season 23 of Dancing With the Stars.

Even though the pairing carried them through to the finale, landing in fourth place, Kramer admitted there was a stretch where Savchenko's coaching method left her so frustrated she almost walked away entirely.

On Friday, June 19, on an episode of her podcast Whine Down, Kramer spoke with Hannah Brown, a fellow DWTS contestant and known for her time on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette franchises, that Kramer's time on the ballroom floor was tougher than fans realized, pointing to her partner's rigid, old-school Russian dance training as a major source of the stress.

"I can't deal with the Russian culture and the way that they teach," Kramer said. "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. I know that you can keep filming me — don't care, he's being rude and I'm not having it.”

The two stars, both no strangers to reality TV, dug into what it actually felt like behind the scenes, and why the mismatch in styles left Kramer struggling far more than viewers ever saw on screen.

With Brown replying it has to do with "culture and the way that they teach." Kramer agreed wholeheartedly.

Brown, who understood completely, shared that despite winning the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy during her own season, she, too, butted heads with her assigned pro, Alan Bersten, whose family background is Russian.

"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," Brown said. "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."

Now looking back, Kramer was willing to give Savchenko's demanding approach some context, attributing it to his own background coming up as a dancer.

The actress explained, "I knew Gleb's intentions [weren't] that he was trying to be mean. He wanted to win too."

Savchenko grew up in Moscow and began training as a dancer at age seven. In the past, he has been open about the weight of expectations placed on him before he'd even hit his teens.

Specifically in a 2018 interview, he shared, "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."

Despite the early friction, the two have nothing but respect for each other these days with Savchenko even sitting down on Kramer's podcast in 2021.