(TMZ) Dancing with the Stars pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy -- who was with Melissa Gilbert when she hit her head on the show this week -- is strongly insinuating ... "Dancing" producers conspired to overstate the actress' injuries to drum up ratings."Dancing" host Tom Bergeron announced at the end of yesterday's show -- Melissa had injured herself during her and Maks' Paso Doble routine ... and was rushed to a nearby hospital.
Melissa later announced on her Twitter she had sustained whiplash and a mild concussion during the performance -- but Maks tells us a different story ... insisting the actress just "bumped her head."
We asked if "Dancing" producers tend to play up celebrity injuries on the show for ratings -- and Maks responded ... they don't fake it ... but they "amplify it a little bit." See video here.
