'DWTS' recap: Stars sob about their partners in rehearsal meltdowns

The tension was thick on week five of "Dancing with the Stars" as two celebrities had words with their partners.

Emotions were heightened by the "most memorable year" theme in which the celebrities did routines inspired by important times in their lives. And race car driver James Hinchcliffe rose to the top after recounting his near-death car crash.

But the pro dancer Chmerkovskiy brothers—Maks and Val— were at the center of the drama on Monday night's show.

While Val was teaching gymnast Laurie Hernandez the Paso Doble, he snapped at her in rehearsal: "This is not it at all. Come on."

Hernandez cried to Val, "You need to calm down. Don't just get mad and start yelling at me."

They mended fences when Val told the athlete she shouldn't bottle up her feelings and after their dance, for which they received a score of 25, the pro admitted to host Tom Bergeron, "I’m not always right."

After the show, Val explained to reporters that it was a situation that had good consequences: "I think it's refreshing. I pushed that conversation on purpose; I knew she was going to respond…she learns how to question authority."

Hernandez said she liked "learning to communicate a little bit more. I do have a habit of bottling things up."

Also having issues were longtime pro Maks and his celeb partner Amber Rose, who had an argument during camera blocking.

"Slow down, slow down," he told her while doing a move.

Rose complained it was "twenty times harder" for her with heels on -- and wiped away tears.

"This is hard!" she cried.

Maks replied, "Yes. It's Dancing with the Stars!"

However, Rose was pleased after they scored 24 for their samba and told the cameras, "Maks is awesome."

The most harrowing story on "most memorable year" night involved Indy car driver Hinchcliffe, who almost lost his life in a 2015 crash while in a practice race for the Indy 500.

After Hinchliffe's car crashed into a wall at over 200 miles per hour, it disintegrated and a shard impaled in his upper left thigh, striking an artery.

"I replaced all of the blood in his body three times over," Dr. Timothy Pohlman, who saved his life at the hospital, said.

Backstage, HIncliffe, the leader with a 29 score, told reporters the scary experience makes him "feel so lucky. I tell people, that accident was a freak accident in a lot of different ways. The accident itself, the injury that came as a result of it, and there were 20 things that had to go just wrong, at just the wrong time, for me to end up in that position. But there were a hundred things that had to go right for me to make it through that and rather than thinking about all the bad luck that went into that situation, I think of all the good luck and it really makes me honestly believe that when it's your time, it's your time, and for whatever reason, it wasn't my time."

"Little Women LA" star Terra Jole and partner Sasha Farber tied for second place by paying a contemporary dance tribute to her father, who died in 2013.

Jole said her dad supported her show business dreams and told her not to come home for his liver transplant hospitalization. He died of a heart attack the day he was supposed to be released after surgery.

Jole, who scored 27, told FOX411, "It's hard not feeling guilty sometimes" about not being there but, "I feel like I can have closure."

Marilu Henner equaled Jole's score as she did an elegant waltz with Derek Hough. She told the story of how her mother died in 1978—just before she got her big break on "Taxi."

Jana Kramer recounted her joy in giving birth to her daughter in 2016. But she also addressed the recent controversy surrounding her personal life, as she said on "DWTS" about her first husband, Michael Gambino, "I was in an abusive relationship."

Kramer, who scored 26, told reporters her daughter is the light of her life: "She gives me more strength than I ever thought imaginable. It was very special to have her in the audience tonight."

The country singer said, "She's been on the road with me since she was four weeks old. She's my little traveling buddy."

Among the other competitors, Calvin Johnson Jr., Ryan Lochte, and Maureen McCormick all got 24.

The great news after a tear-filled night was there was no elimination. The stars will be back in action next Monday with "Latin week," during which Pitbull will serve as guest judge.