Jana Kramer Breaks Down, Dedicates ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Performance to Daughter [Watch]
Jana Kramer broke down during Monday night's (Oct. 10) episode of Dancing With the Stars, then recovered and turned in a strong performance that she dedicated to her daughter.
Kramer has been going through a very rocky period in her personal life during a time when her public profile is higher than it's ever been. She's balancing an active singing and touring career with her run on the show, which was announced shortly after she split with her husband of 15 months, Michael Caussin, in August, amid cheating allegations.
Last week Kramer stunned fans when she revealed that her first husband, Michael Gambino, was so abusive that he ended up going to prison for trying to kill her, and on Monday night's episode, whose theme was Most Memorable Year, Kramer chose the year she gave birth to Jolie Rae.
"This week, it's most memorable year, and mine is 2016, because I had my baby girl. I feel like I'm the strongest I've been my entire life. She's given me the strength I didn't know I would have," Kramer says in the video above.
"And I've been in bad situations where I've let people take that from me. Ten years ago, I was in an abusive relationship. It was the worst time of my life. He went to jail for attempted murder on me. It's been a very heavy secret to hold for so many years. The situation 10 years ago broke me. It took having Jolie to piece together every single broken part of me."
Kramer fights back tears as she adds, "I never want my daughter to ever go through the things I went through, or question that she's not good enough. And I want my daughter to know that no man should ever put their hands on her. Because she's beautiful."
The singer and former One Tree Hill star and her partner, Gleb Savchenko, turned in a contemporary dance set to Martina McBride's "In My Daughter's Eyes," earning a score of 26 out of a possible 40 points. She was thrilled with the dance, she tells Entertainment Tonight.
"It was an emotional night but a happy night," Kramer says. "Gleb choreographed an amazing routine for my daughter and just everything that I’ve been through, and I feel like we were able to share that in the story … I’m really proud of it."
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