Heavy/ABC Cheryl Burke talks about DWTS.
Retired “Dancing With the Stars” pro Cheryl Burke recently spoke about her experience on the show. She explained that she didn’t like the way she was “treated” on the show, though she didn’t elaborate.
“I needed to leave, because I started doing lots of just work on myself. And I was like, I don’t like the way that I feel,” Burke said on the May 20 episode of “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans.”
“Regardless, I’m not gonna blame anyone for my feelings. I take full accountability over my own feelings, but this no longer was a fit for me in my life. And I just didn’t like the way that I was being treated,” she continued. “I didn’t expect them to change the way that they were treating me. I decided to leave and that’s it. And it’s a shame that there was no other like job position for me, which doesn’t mean anything other than, okay, so be it,” she added.
Burke retired from DWTS after season 31. She has two Mirrorball Trophies under her belt, winning back to back in seasons 2 and 3 with Drew Lachey and Emmitt Smith, respectively.
Cheryl Burke Wanted to Judge ‘Dancing With the Stars’
When Burke was thinking about retiring from “Dancing With the Stars,” she was hoping to become a judge. In an interview with Variety, Burke made it clear that joining the judges’ panel was at the forefront of her mind.
“I want to continue to evolve. Whether that be with the show or not, is up to me. However, as a dancer, I am hanging up my dance shoes,” she told the outlet of her decision to retire.
“They are very well aware that I want that seat. It’s not that I just want it, I just know that I can contribute because I am an expert in ballroom dancing. I can say that with confidence. It would be nice to see two women on the panel,” she added.
According to Variety, season 33 of “Dancing With the Stars” will return to ABC in the fall. There will only be three judges on the season; Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough, and Bruno Tonioli.
Cheryl Burke Says She Will ‘Never’ Return to ‘Dancing With the Stars’
On a previous episode of her podcast, Burke said that she won’t ever return to “Dancing With the Stars” to perform.
“I’m never going to perform on the show, not just because of their decision, but I don’t think I’d ever want to perform on the show again, not out of ego, just because like I, it’s done,” Burke said on the April 29 episode of her “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans” podcast.
“This chapter has, is, it’s shut down, it’s shut down. We’re gonna move on to the next chapter, but it’s really hard to have to come to Jesus with that situation. Like the fact that I always wanted to have a little, like a foot in no matter what,” she added.
Her comments come months after she was snubbed for the ballroom tribute to late DWTS judge, Len Goodman.
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