Tony Dovolani: I Regret Telling Kate Gosselin "I Quit"

Tony Dovolani regrets telling partner Kate Gosselin he "quit" after a rehearsal spat featured on Monday's show.

"I don't like speaking when I am upset, and I don't ever want to bring back words that I don't mean, and 'I quit' I guess was one of them," he told Entertainment Tonight. "And I only said one word, and I guess that's the one I take back."

On the show, footage aired of Gosselin, 35, criticizing Dolovani's teaching style during rehearsals. "He feels like I undermine him as a teacher," she said, later telling Dolovani, 36: "I love how you teach, but you're not taking into consideration how I learn." Outraged, Dolovani stormed off and Gosselin's eyes filled with tears. He eventually cooled down and returned to rehearsals, and Gosselin thanked him. "I've had a lot of people quit on me in life," she said, presumably referring to ex Jon.

When producers first showed the teaser clip of Dolovani quitting, Gosselin rolled her eyes and made a face at the screen. Cheryl Burke tried to give her a little reassuring pat on the arm.

"It was a a tough 30 seconds, and they showed every second of it," Gosselin later told ET.

But she said she was "fine" seeing it in the end.

"I don't mind the reality part of it," she explained. "The reality is, it is very, very tough. I am not a dancer. I've said it a million times, and it is so true in that sense of that word - I am not a dancer. So, for me to even be out there ... Ok, so I forgot half my steps? The fact that I didn't fall is truly amazing."

Despite her positive outlook, Gosselin tanked on the dance floor, earning a score of 15, with judge Bruno Tonioli calling her a "nightmare."

Gosselin and Dolovani didn't sit together throughout the show (unless they were on camera). Gosselin looked tired and upset the whole night.

But when the show was over, Gosselin hugged Dolovani and said "I'm so sorry." Dovolani appeared to be reasoning with her about what went wrong. She smiled as she did some press, but "you could tell she was unhappy," a witness tells UsMagazine.com.