Jaleel White Recalls How 'Calamity' of Custody Battle Affected His Performance on 'DWTS'

Jaleel White says he endured a painful court saga with his ex-girlfriend over child custody during his time on Dancing With the Stars.

The former Family Matters actor, who hosts new game show Flip Side, was on season 14 of DWTS in 2012.

On the April 29 episode of Sherri, White sat down with fellow former DWTS contestant Sherri Shepherd. He revealed that during his time on the dance competition show, he was embroiled in a custody battle over his daughter. White shares Samaya, now 16, with his ex-girlfriend, Bridget Hardy.

Around the 24-minute mark of the video below, White recalled being emotionally "all over the place" while on the ABC program. The actor was eliminated in the seventh week.

"I had a process server serve me right before I danced week two," White said. "Right before I danced week two, we had a whole calamity at my dressing room. And I got lower scores week two."

White explained that while he was in a struggle with his ex over their child, he had to sit for "crazy interviews."

"So I'm trying to be an athlete about it. I sit down and I'm like 'All right,'" he said. "And they're like, 'Well, tell us how bad you feel.' And I'm like, 'I ain't worried about the dancing. I got other stuff I'm dealing with. I think I'm going to do OK. I'll bounce back.'"

But White's responses disappointed show executives, who allegedly told him, "That's not what people want to hear."

White said that the show turned "into The Hunger Games" where his reactions had to be more controlled. But White credited his dancer partner, Kym Herjavec, and their rehearsals in New York with helping him destress.

"So week one and week five of Dancing with the Stars actually do mean a lot to me, personally, because I was really dancing for my life and people didn't really know about it," he said.

White, who also wrote about the legal fight in his memoir Growing Up Urkel, shared that his daughter was moved 70 miles away from him during the show's taping.

If his Instagram posts are any indication, White, who married tech executive Nicoletta Ruhl last year, seems to now have a strong bond with his daughter.