Heavy/ABC Cheryl Burke's Mirrorball was destroyed by mice.
Former “Dancing With the Stars” pro Cheryl Burke had her first two Mirrorball Trophies destroyed by mice.
On the May 13 episode of her “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans” podcast, Burke said that she was forced to throw one of the trophies away due to the damage.
“Season two and three. First of all, one is gone in the trash. And not because I’m pissed off at anything or the show or I hate that, I don’t want to remember it. The mice that were living in my storage in Los Angeles literally bit through the styrofoam, okay? And the mirrors were already off,” she told podcast guest, Jonathan Roberts.
Burke won two Mirrorball Trophies while on “Dancing With the Stars.” She finished in first place on season 2 with Drew Lachey and again on season 3 with Emmitt Smith. She announced her retirement during season 31.
Cheryl Burke Previously Called the First Renditions of the Mirrorball Trophy ‘Cheap’
When Burke first joined the cast of “Dancing With the Stars,” the Mirrorball Trophy was made out of a lamp shade.
On the January 1, 2024, episode of the “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans” podcast, Burke called her trophies “cheap.”
“The second season and third season of the Mirrorball Trophies were made of lamp shades. Cute, yeah. It was like a joke, but not a joke. That’s why mine is completely like, in the trash, because the mirrors have fallen off one by one,” Burke said.
It’s no secret that the Mirrorball Trophy has come a long way. Production designer James Yarnell spoke out about how the very first trophy was created.
“There was a limit to what I could spend, so I bought a 3-foot-tall brass lamp, unscrewed it and took all the pieces apart. Then I reassembled some of the pieces to make basically what we can have today. The original one, the Kelly Monaco one, was literally part of a brass lamp and had it put on a wooden base with the mirrorball on it,” he told People magazine in 2017.
The Mirrorball Trophy Has Changed Since Cheryl Burke Won It
Fast forward to present day, and the Mirrorball Trophy has gotten quite the upgrade. Not only does it feature Swarovski crystals, but it’s also designed each season by an outside company, per People.
In 2023, following the death of head judge Len Goodman, the Mirrorball Trophy got renamed in his honor.
“The Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy will now be lifted on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ like the Vince Lombardi trophy is lifted at the Super Bowl,” show runner Conrad Green told USA Today. “We wanted to make Len a permanent part of this show, to always remind people the importance he’s had to ‘Dancing With the Stars’ and how much he meant to all of us,” he continued.
“Len loves this show and will always be there, looking down on us,” Green added.
Valentin Chmerkovskiy and his season 32 partner Xochitl Gomez were the first “Dancing With the Stars” contestants to hoist the newly minted trophy.
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