'Dancing with the Stars' pro Tony Dovolani on NeNe Leakes tiff: My comments were taken out of context, it's tough to be portrayed as a villain

Dancing with the Stars pro Tony Dovolani is apparently upset with how the show portrayed him in a video package that aired before he danced a foxtrot with celebrity partner NeNe Leakes for "Disney night" on Monday.


"It was very difficult for me because they made me seem like the villain," Dovolani told Us Weekly after the show in regards to how he was shown handling a little argument with Leakes during rehearsal.

Leakes was also very surprised to see Dovolani's unflattering edit.

"She was overwhelmed," Dovolani explained.

"She didn't like that they were making me the villain. She saw the look on my face, and she said, 'Why are they doing this to you? You're the nice guy!' It was hard... They took my comments out of context and attached them to the story. And I didn't like that part. But listen, it was good TV, I guess."


Dovolani and Leakes were recovering from last week's "Switch-Up" challenge in which The Real Housewives of Atlanta star was temporarily paired up with Dancing with the Stars' only five-time champion Derek Hough and they racked in excellent judges' scores. Dovolani had been partnered with Candace Cameron Bure that week.

"I know [Tony] is not comfortable with the whole 'Derek conversation,'" Leakes said during Monday night's video package. "I wanted to be able to go back to Tony and be like, 'Oh my gosh, let me show you! Derek taught me this,' or, 'He showed me this.' Oh no, I couldn't do that."

"Obviously there was a little bit of tension," Dovolani was shown saying during rehearsal. "I think the 'Switch-Up' hurt us a little bit because it almost like put a road-bump in the middle of our road. I don't think anybody wants to see their partner dancing with somebody else. Jealousy comes in there, you know, a little insecurity steps in, and it makes it a little bit awkward."

While rehearsing, Dovolani was also shown cracking jokes about Leakes not being a great student until it became too much for the reality TV star to bare.

"You're going to have to come with a better attitude tomorrow," Leakes was shown saying in the package as she just walked out on Dovolani.


"You have a damn attitude today and that sh-t ain't going to work. You want to go back to Candace? Then you should call production, so you can go back to Candace so you can be happy. Because I've only given you the best that I got every day... I don't deserve an attitude."

After Monday night's show, Dovolani told Us the circumstances of that particular practice just weren't great in general, nevermind the "Switch-Up" from the week prior.

"We had just both flown a red-eye to New York, we were both tired, the Switch-Up didn't do us any good. It put a bump in the road and we had a little tiff!...  and I just hope it doesn't get us voted off," he told the magazine, adding that every pairing on the show tends to fight here or there.

"They chose to show ours and make a story out of it... and that's fine."

Dovolani also apparently didn't like how his edit in the video package made it seem like he's not a fan of Hough.


"They made me seem like I hate Derek! I don't hate Derek!" Dovolani said. "I babysat that kid! I've known this kid for over 25 years. So for me, it's like, 'What do you mean I hate Derek?' He's a great person I grew up with."

However, Hough was apparently unaffected by Dovolani's comments and behavior.

"No matter what happened in that package, no matter how they constructed it, it's gone," Hough told Us after Monday night's show. "We all love each other, it's all love in the cast. I was really rooting for [NeNe] tonight when she was dancing, giving the sass! I was so happy for her!"

Despite their issues, Dovolani and Leakes ended up pulling off a great foxtrot routine inspired by 101 Dalmatians. They received 36 out of 40 possible points -- which equaled four 9's from the Dancing with the Stars judges. 

After exchanging apologies, the couple plan to put their little tiff behind them and move forward in the competition.


"That was a week ago, so in some ways we'd already forgotten about it," Dovolani told the magazine.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski