Amanda Kloots Says 'Dancing with the Stars' Partner Alan Bersten Left Her 'Raging Inside'

Among the highlights of Dancing with the Stars Season 33, one of them has been the friendship between partners Ilona Maher and Alan Bersten. Last week, the Olympic rugby player dedicated one of her dances to the pro for his support and encouragement the entire season. But, as Amanda Kloots revealed this past week, not every DWTS partnership is rosy.

The co-host of The Talk chatted about her time on Season 30 of the reality series on the Nov. 19 episode of Harry Jowsey's podcast Boyfriend Material. Jowsey, himself a participant in Season 32, and Kloots talked about their respective experiences on the show in the wake of the upcoming finale. And while Kloots and Bersten finished in fourth place, it was far from an easy road to get there, as she says he was "very mean" to her during the entire process.

"He did see a lot of potential in me and he saw that we could possibly win this thing," she went on to say. "And I think when a pro has a star that has that potential, they can get very mean because they're like, 'I could win. I wanna win.'"

Kloots then went on to reveal that Bersten would yell at her during some particularly tense moments in the rehearsal room. And considering her background, as a former Rockette and veteran of many Broadway ensembles, she was just as competitive to win as Bersten. But his drive sometimes came at the cost of pushing her too far.

She went on to say she sometimes felt production "would just want me to have a breakdown or something. But I knew if I had a breakdown, the producers would come in, wanna do an OTF. And then we would lose an hour of our rehearsal time. So I would just keep it bottled up and we would just be like dancing and I would just be like raging inside."

Kloots participated in DWTS in 2021, shortly after becoming a full-time member of The Talk's hosting panel. It also marked a year after tragedy struck when her husband, Tony Award nominee Nick Cordero, was diagnosed and ultimately died from COVID-19. Even amidst some tempestuous circumstances, Kloots and Bersten became immediate frontrunners, hitting the top of the leaderboard in the first three weeks of the competition.

For what it's worth, Kloots does not look back on her DWTS experience as entirely negative. Despite Bersten's meaner moments, she said on the podcast that she "had a blast too." And, when asked if she would return again, she gave a hearty yes, adding, "I'd do it for free!"

Following the podcast's release, Kloots took to Instagram to post a warm photo of her and Bersten. Clarifying her comments, she wrote, "Setting the record straight! I love @alanberston very much! We became the best of friends during DWTS and still are today. We laughed a lot, cried, and built an incredible partnership in that time! Alan helped me tremendously with healing and grief and finding my love for dance again. I’m forever grateful to him."