Jaleel White has revealed to People magazine the truth behind his alleged row with his dance partner Kym Johnson. "It was completely exaggerated," said the 35 year-old actor, in response to claims that he had "erupted" into a tirade against Kym on Friday (March 30, 2012), ahead of last night's show. Reports at the time claimed that he had stood on Kym's foot and then lashed out at her, verbally, when he felt that she over-reacted to the incident.
Explaining his side of the story, Jaleel told reporters "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." Fellow dance contestant Mark Ballas allegedly had to step in and intervene when Jaleel lost his temper, and a source told the magazine "Both Mark and Donald wound up having words with him, mostly trying to get him to realize that he needed to just get a grip already." They added "Jaleel definitely was out of line. It basically didn't have anything to do with Kym or her foot - he was just stressed out and ready to snap."
White's excuse for feeling so stressed was that he's not used to having cameras filming his every move. "I'm a sitcom generation kid," he explained. "I'm not used to all this tabloid stuff." The pressure certainly seemed to be getting to Jaleel, who scored 25 for his rumba: "They literally do not let you rehearse without a camera," he says. "You're watching everything, and it's tough."