Cheryl Burke has revealed she had to "fight" to have a farewell performance on Dancing with the Stars after she retired from the reality dancing competition.
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And after 17 years of competing on Dancing with the Stars, Cheryl announced her retirement and got to perform a farewell dance during the show's Season 31 finale in November 2022.
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But according to Cheryl, Dancing with the Stars didn't really care to honor her or give her a proper goodbye.
"It was a fight," Cheryl claimed of her farewell Dancing with the Stars performance during the April 28 episode of her "Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans" podcast.
"It wasn't just given to me, like 'Oh, okay, we're going to do a beautiful send off. It was a fight that my team had to really put their foot down and basically put everything into perspective for them, like, 'Wow, you don't want to give her anything, not even a little goodbye? Nothing?'"
Cheryl said she noticed fans were upset with her for complaining about Dancing with the Stars when she had that televised send off.
"I started a lot earlier than [other pros] did, and I never really took a break from the show. It was consistent and I was consistently there. Yeah, I think that was the least that they could've done -- a send off," Cheryl explained.
"But what's interesting is leading up to it, it was almost like I didn't even want to do it anymore because I could tell that it wasn't necessarily their idea."
The pro dancer and choreographer, however, said she's "done" talking about her rift with Dancing with the Stars.
"This will be my last of me speaking about my experience... I do feel closure. Even though I can still be sad and I still have tears... I have no ill will towards anyone, really, but I could still be really hurt and disappointed that I've lost friendships along the way, and that is called grieving," Cheryl said.
"And everyone grieves differently, and sometimes for me, because a lot of these people I've known for almost two decades, it's going to take time to really put that to rest."
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Cheryl opened up about how she didn't really want to retire from Dancing with the Stars but felt like she had to for the sake of her dignity earlier this month.
"I didn't want to leave the show," Cheryl shared on the April 15 episode of the "Amy and T.J." podcast, which is co-hosted by Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes.
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But once she voluntarily quit her job as a professional partner, Cheryl said she felt ghosted by the ABC reality dancing competition, which feels "so f-cking personal" to her still to this day.
"I don't understand why this [rift with Dancing with the Stars] is happening," Cheryl cried. "I lost my family... I wouldn't wish this upon my worst enemy."
"This was my family, like," she added. "To be a part of something for so long, for 26 seasons, is so unheard of... I have this bond, like an umbilical cord, that is still hard to, I guess, cut off and to really separate myself from."
Cheryl said she felt the need to grow and evolve her career but Dancing with the Stars didn't want to promote her to a new role, such as co-host or judge.
"I believe that I am more capable of taking on another role on the show. I don't know what that would've been, or whatever, but if they don't see that in me, then why am I here?" Cheryl admitted.
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Cheryl said she saw other pro dancers -- who joined Dancing with the Stars after her -- be promoted. Julianne Hough, for example, joined Dancing with the Stars for Season 4, and she now co-hosts the show alongside Alfonso Ribeiro.
"Being a pro dancer isn't beneath me... but I just didn't understand why I couldn't also have that opportunity," Cheryl reasoned.
"Clearly it wasn't being given to me, and so I had to do something about it... I just felt like in order for me to gain respect and love for myself, I had to believe in me. If they're not going to believe, then I have to believe. I had to really stick to my guns here."
Cheryl recalled leaving on good terms with Dancing with the Stars producers, but she noticed a change when she wasn't invited to honor Len Goodman's memory following his April 2023 death.
Cheryl had a lifelong relationship with the late DWTS judge, who was both her mentor and friend, but she wasn't asked to participate in his tribute with other Dancing with the Stars pros, past and present.
Cheryl called it "a stab in the heart" when she was left out of the performance that paid tribute to Len, and she previously made her feelings known on social media.
"I couldn't believe that I wasn't included in something that was so special. If you look up OG in the dictionary, I should've been there. They know this, and I know this," Cheryl insisted.
"But clearly that wasn't the case... [Rumors] I chose not to be there, that's just not the case... They could've eliminated [all of this tension] if I was there and was just asked [to join]."
Cheryl noted that Dancing with the Stars leaving her out "was not an oversight," suggesting that producers had intentionally left her out of their plans.
"Some people may not be happy with my podcast that I have here with iHeart," Cheryl confessed.
"It has to be the podcast, because that's all that [happened] in the past couple of years... It makes me think they're not listening to it [in full, because] you have to attract listeners, and with that, you need to put clips together that may sound a little, 'Oh, she's bashing the show,' but no, that's not what the podcast is about."
Cheryl then reluctantly whispered that DWTS producers had ultimately confirmed to her reps that it was, in fact, her podcast that drove the wedge between them.
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"With any relationship, there's turmoil and disagreements, but you talk about it. You don't just literally not talk about it. But I can sleep at night knowing that I didn't do anything wrong. I'm still so grateful for everything."
Cheryl broke down into tears while speaking, and she admitted that the falling out cut "really deep" for her and still "hurts."
When asked how ties could be repaired, Cheryl quipped, "I think that's a question for them."
Cheryl explained, "Am I upset about the past? Yes. But it's the past. I'm really trying to move forward, and I would think after 16 years -- and blood, sweat and tears, literally, like [ligament] tears -- that there's a chance to repair whatever it is. We need to communicate. We need to talk."
Cheryl said she just has to speak her truth and she hopes she'll become a part of the Dancing with the Stars family again one day.
"I can't just go see a show [in the ballroom]. I can't do that, but that could all be in my head," Cheryl reasoned.
"It's not like it was, 'You are shunned!' It wasn't like that, but I think it's pretty frickin obvious... And then you're left feeling like, 'I guess I was never really that important.'"
Cheryl admitted her estrangement from Dancing with the Stars felt like her second divorce -- and that it was even worse than her first one.
(Cheryl had filed for divorce from actor Matthew Lawrence in February 2022, and their divorce was finalized later that year).
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"This one is painful. It's heartbreaking," Cheryl admitted.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
