Cheryl Burke has no regrets about retiring from Dancing With the Stars — and has no plans to return in the future.
“I’m done with that,” Burke, 40, exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting her “Sex, Lies and Spray Tans” podcast. “Feelings aside, I just have zero interest in teaching another celebrity how to dance, to be quite honest.”
Burke noted that she is in a better place since first announcing her exit in 2022, adding, “I don’t think I would be in a spot where it would be so easy for me to get sucked back in a way where it starts to define me again. And I’m still a little vulnerable to say, ‘OK, I’m ready to do that.’”
Two years after departing from the show, Burke still has “a lot of unanswered questions” about why she was not asked back to participate in another capacity.
“I can only assume — obviously I would guess it was the podcast — but hopefully now they understand that there’s no harm in this podcast whatsoever,” she shared. “We don’t even talk about the show until the end and most of the interview [is] about them.”
Burke was a dancer on the competition reality show for 26 seasons before she officially retired in 2022. Before the season 31 finale, Burke hinted that she would love to join the series in a different role, perhaps as a judge.
“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. I can also say that my teaching methods haven’t been known to being sugar coated,” Burke said during an interview with Variety in 2022.
Burke continued: “They have been very well aware for probably a few years now. So unfortunately, that decision is not up to me. I would love to still be a part of the family, I just would love a different role on the show, just like anybody after 26 seasons of having that same title.”
Mirrorball champs or not, Dancing With the Stars has featured some impeccable professional dancers in the years since the ABC competition series premiered in 2005. Derek Hough, Cheryl Burke and Maksim Chmerkovskiy are among the talent who have lit up the ballroom. Some of the show’s stars went on to achieve major success in their careers while […]
Since parting ways with DWTS, Burke started her “Sex, Lies and Spray Tans” podcast, which features interviews with former contestants. Burke has questioned whether this led to ABC not inviting her to DWTS events such as a tribute to judge Len Goodman in October 2023.
“I didn’t want to leave the show. This was my family,” Burke told Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes on an episode of their podcast in April. “That was my identity in every way. … [But] I felt like it was time for me to grow and evolve in my career.”
Burke explained why her absence from the tribute might have been based on her podcast.
While some Dancing With the Stars contestants are understandably eliminated for their two left feet, other entrants are sent home far too early. The voting system got an overhaul for season 28, following the controversial victory of radio host Bobby Bones one season prior, but the changeup didn’t stop formidable competitors from leaving the ballroom. […]
“I found out [about Len’s tribute] when everyone else found out. And that was just a stab in the heart for me. I just couldn’t believe that I wasn’t included in something so special. More than anything, I just feel really sad. I’m still so sad. I’m not even mad anymore,” she added. “It just makes me believe that they’re not listening to it or something. Of course, on social media, we need to attract listeners, and unfortunately with that, you have to put clips together that may sound a little like, oh, she’s just bashing the show. No, that’s not what the podcast is. It’s telling the honest truth.”
Burke has stood by her decision to branch out after DWTS.
“I just feel like I am still, in a way, grieving but not nearly as heavy as it was a year ago. I also feel like it’s been helpful to hear my guest’s stories and what they’ve been through, because we don’t have that time to talk,” she told Us. “And if we do get there, we always get pulled in a different direction. So there’s a lot of similarities, but there’s also beautiful memories, and it’s everything.”
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
