Jaleel White has insisted his alleged outburst at Dancing with the Stars professional partner Kym Johnson was made out to be a much bigger deal that it really was.

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"It was completely exaggerated," the actor told People following Monday night's performance show in response to reports he "flipped out" on Johnson for "acting like a baby" after he accidentally stepped on her foot while rehearsing on Friday.  

"We go to work every day, and there is an alley full of tabloid reporters. It's not fair to us and that's life, and I hope people can see through it. There's no drama in my life."

According to Us Weekly, the fourteenth-season Dancing with the Stars participant took issue Johnson's initial reaction to the pain and "got in her face," shouted at her and called her an "idiot" in what turned out to be a "heated" confrontation. Johnson reportedly broke down in tears after the exchange and briefly left the studio.

White's behavior reportedly then resulted in fellow contestant Donald Driver attempting to step in and calm him down, but White ignored Driver and continued ranting about Johnson -- resulting in pro dancer Mark Ballas confronting White and the two men getting into an escalating argument which only ended when "the producers stepped in and broke it up before it got physical," according to an Us source.

Dancing with the Stars producers reportedly banned White from the studio for the remainder of the day. 

"It was a huge fiasco that went down. A total mess," said the Us source, adding that White has now requested his own rehearsal space elsewhere.

Despite the incident, Johnson told People prior to Monday night's performance show that she and White make a good team.

"This has been a stressful week for us, and people have stressful weeks. [Today] was horrible. I thought we got through it really well, and our dance tonight will show everyone that we really have a great connection. This is really the first week we only had four days to learn [the rumba]," Johnson explained.

White also seemed to suggest his frustration was a result of being filmed constantly and the overall stress of the competition rather than a personal issue with Johnson.

"They literally do not let you rehearse without a camera. You're watching everything, and it's tough. I'm a sitcom generation kid. I'm not used to all this tabloid stuff," added White, who reportedly "started going off on producers," blaming them for pairing him up with a "stupid" partner after Johnson took off.

Ballas also brushed off the incident with White, who is best known for his portrayal of Steve Urkel on ABC's Family Matters sitcom, when asked about the altercation.

"These things happen. This show is a competitive show. Things get heated... This got severely twisted. We've been in the same room all night, and everything's fine," Ballas told People.
 
White and Johnson finished tied for fifth place on Monday night's judging leaderboard with Disney Channel star Roshon Fegan and partner Chelsie Hightower after both couples received 25 out of 30 possible points from Dancing with the Stars judges Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli.

Last night's broadcast of Dancing with the Stars did not show any footage suggesting tension existed between White and Johnson during rehearsals.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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