Former DWTS Pro Issues a Warning to Future Contestants

Cheryl Burke has some advice for future contestants on  “Dancing With the Stars.”  The pro dancer, who announced her retirement from the ABC celebrity ballroom show in 2022,  thinks anyone who competes on the show should be single.

Burke made the stunning claim on the May 31, 2024 episode of her podcast, “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans” as she noted how “vulnerable” the contestants get with their partners and the “insane” amount of time they must spend together.

Here’s what you need to know:

Cheryl Burke Said DWTS is Like ‘An Arranged Marriage’

Getty GettyCheryl Burke and Gilles Marini.

“Dancing With the Stars” celebrities and pro dancers have no say on who they are partnered with. Executive talent producer Deena Katz told Glamour that producers have the final say on which pro dancers get paired with each celebrity.

Speaking with journalist Dave Quinn on her podcast, Burke called the process “an arranged marriage.” She then went into how much time the pro and celebrity couples must spend together during the season.

“You’re constantly [together] eight hours a day, seven days a week,” Burke said. “That’s insane. For three months. And you’re vulnerable.”

“It’s so intimate, and you’re stuck with this person,” she explained. “You get close in so many ways. These celebrities are so vulnerable because in order to succeed you have to strip it all down. And that alone? I bet you most of these married celebrities have never even done that with their wives.”

“Be single if you do ‘Dancing with Stars.’ That’s all I’m saying,” the two-time mirrorball champion added.

Cheryl Burke Admitted She Had Multiple DWTS Showmances

Getty GettyCheryl Burke and Chad Ochocinco Johnson in 2010.

Over the long run on “Dancing with the Stars,” Burke was partnered with Drew Lachey, Rick Fox, Gilles Marini, Antinio Sabato Jr., and more.

During an April 2024 appearance on Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes’ “Amy & T.J.” podcast, Burke admitted she had “showmances” with three of her partners.

“Dancing, especially ballroom, is an intimate contact sport,” she explained. “It’s seven days a week. You are consumed with each other. In order to be successful on ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ you have to be ready to be vulnerable.”

She added, “And, look, I’ll be the first. I’m not going to say who, but I’ve had my own showmances. You know? It happened. One of them basically professed his love to me on [‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”]

Burke admitted that she tried to make a relationship work with one of her partners but realized it was “lust” and not love.

During an appearance on DeGeneres’ talk show in 2010, Burke showed off a huge diamond ring her DWTS season 10 partner Chad Ochocinco gave her. Ochocicno also described their relationship as like a marriage and kissed Burke on camera before saying he decided to “put a ring on it.”

Some DWTS Celebs Have Talked About the ‘Lust’ Factor

Heavy/ABC Heavy/ABCBrook Burke dances with Derek Hough on “Dancing With the Stars.”

During an appearance on Cheryl Burke’s podcast in October 2023, mirrorball champ turned co-host Brooke Burke admitted to “crushing on Derek [Hough]” when she was partnered with him on the show.

“Had I not been married… I would have actually hoped we would have had a love affair,” Brooke Burke admitted. “I would have had an affair with him.”

“Let me tell you why,” she added. “You are intertwined with someone’s body when you’re not a dancer. There is no way that I have ever been so connected — besides with a lover or a husband — than I was with Derek. And it’s every single day. So, for three months, you are in someone’s arms. … It can be more intimate than making love in a bedroom — you’re making love on a dance floor, you feel more connected.”

Contestant Leah Remini planned ahead when she was approached to join DWTS. In November 2023, she appeared on “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans” and hinted that she only agreed to be on the show if she was partnered with Tony Dovolani.

During the podcast interview, Remini explained that she requested to have “because he was married and I didn’t know the shenanigans that goes on a dance show.” Remini noted that when she told her husband, Angelo Pagan, that she was going to do “Dancing With the Stars,” she promised him she’d partner with a married guy.

“So, I went and looked at the cast and I Googled everybody, and I wanted to see who was married, with kids. They would understand, we would kind of have a similar life,” she said. “And so that’s why I picked Tony.”