Jaleel White shared new details about what caused him to reach a “breaking point” during Dancing With the Stars.
The actor, best known for playing Steve Urkel in the popular sitcom Family Matters, opened up in his new memoir about his experience on ABC.
White was the first actor from the sitcom to compete on the show. His co-star, Reginald VelJohnson, who played Carl Winslow, became the second when he appeared in DWTS Season 33.
VelJohnson became a sentimental fan-favorite, although many knew he would not win the competition against frontrunners, including Chandler Kinney or Joey Graziadei.
White indicated his time on DWTS Season 14 included producers expecting him to act goofy and funny like his TV character Urkel. In addition, he said they were “exploiting” his real-life -pain.
He also got into a heated altercation with his dance partner, Kym Johnson, which he spoke about in his new memoir, Growing Up Urkel.
White opened up about DWTS’s ‘calculated manipulation’ to ‘exploit’ his real-life pain
White’s new memoir arrived earlier this week and included many insights into the actor’s personal and professional life.
According to the actor, he didn’t initially want to appear on DWTS Season 14 in 2012, but his manager “pushed him.” White said he took the “great opportunity” because of how much it paid and how it helped him get renewed TV publicity.
However, he said producers got “frustrated” with his performances as they wanted him to be “the Black version of Andy Dick.”
White said the show producers expected him to “flop around that stage like a fish out of water” because his character did that on ABC sitcoms, but he didn’t want to do that.
He mentioned current DWTS host Alfonso Ribeiro, who won the show as a contestant in Season 19. According to White, Ribeiro “understood the assignment,” as he “knew what the producers wanted, and he decided to give it to them.”
When the mother of White’s young daughter filed court documents for a custody battle, it added to the actor’s difficult season.
White indicated that producers wanted to include the custody situation in his personal story during DWTS and would ask “leading” questions to get him to open up on camera.
He said that “kind of calculated manipulation brought [him] to a breaking point.”
White had to leave the DWTS studio after a heated altercation with his dance partner
Unfortunately, the actor became a “meme” for crying on camera during DWTS, which he shared that he “deeply regrets.”
“I didn’t want to give them Urkel on the dance floor, and I damn sure didn’t want to give these producers a chance to exploit my personal pain for entertainment,” White said in his new memoir.
He also opened up about his “verbal spat” with his dance partner Kym Johnson after he claimed she told him, “Do what I tell you to do!”
“That ain’t going to work for a personality like mine,” White said.
Their altercation, which US Weekly reported about in April 2012, happened when White “flipped out” during a dance rehearsal. An insider claimed Johnson said “ouch” because White accidentally stepped on her foot.
An insider reportedly claimed White “got in her face” about “acting like a baby” and called her an “idiot” during the “heated” altercation.
Fellow contestant Donald Driver and professional dancer Mark Ballas attempted to calm things down. Per US Weekly’s report, White then snapped at Ballas. Eventually, producers intervened and told White he had to leave the DWTS studio for a day.
Despite that heated altercation, Johnson and White later bonded as they sat together in first class to travel to an appearance on The Wendy Williams Show.
The couple ultimately was the sixth elimination in a season featuring former The View panelist Sheri Shepherd, TV personality Maria Menounos, tennis great Martina Navratilova, and soap opera star Jack Wagner.
Driver, a former Super Bowl champion with the NFL’s Green Bay Packers, won the Mirrorball Trophy in Season 14 with dance partner Peta Murgatroyd.
White ‘learned a lot’ from his DWTS experience
Surprisingly, White indicated he would “absolutely” repeat the DWTS experience, mentioning that entertainers “should know how to conduct themselves when on the wrong side of a story that has gained fuel in the press.”
“I had a lot to learn about what it was to participate in a reality show — and it’s one of the more prestigious ones. I lasted seven weeks and I didn’t fall. I learned a hell of a lot about myself. So I would absolutely do it again,” White said.
The actor has since returned to television, hosting the CBS game show FlipSide, which premiered on September 9. Episodes appear on Game Show Network shortly after their CBS debut and are available on-demand on Paramount+.
Dancing With the Stars airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on ABC and Disney+.
This is mean (I know) but can JW just go away already? I can’t be the only one sick of his seemingly grating personality. He just comes off as unlikable. Sorry but I had to get that off my chest.