Cheryl Burke Says She Had to 'Fight' to Get Her Farewell Dance on “Dancing with the Stars”
The former 'Dancing with the Stars' pro left the show in November 2022 after 26 seasons
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Cheryl Burke arrives at the 2023 Gold Meets Golden 10th Anniversary Year Event at Virginia Robinson Gardens on February 04, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.Cheryl Burke is disclosing more details about her contentious farewell from Dancing With the Stars.
On the April 28 episode of her Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans podcast, the former DWTS pro, 39 — who left the show in 2022 after 17 years — said her final dance during the season 31 finale wasn’t easy to acquire.
“It was a fight,” Burke claimed of her farewell performance. “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?’”
Although she clarified that her departure was voluntary, Burke wanted a promotion she and her team knew was never coming.
“Did I really want to leave it for good and be done? No,” the podcast host admitted.
Christopher Willard/Getty
(L-R) Cody Rigsby and Cheryl Burke on 'Dancing With The Stars'.Burke called the opportunity for a goodbye dance “the least” that executives could have done for her after she “consistently” showed up since 2005 but expressed frustration at how much she had to push.
“What's interesting leading up to it, it was almost like I didn't even want to do it anymore because I can tell that it wasn't necessarily their idea,” she explained.
Closing the episode, she promised that it would be the last time she would address the issue outside of asking guests about their experiences on the show.
“I do feel closure,” she concluded. “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. And everyone grieves differently, and 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.”
PEOPLE has reached out to ABC for comment.
Corine Solberg/Getty
Cheryl Burke attends the United Ukrainian Ballet performance of "Giselle" at the Segerstrom Center For The Arts on June 29, 2023 in Costa Mesa, California.The two-time mirrorball trophy winner recently opened up about her exit from DWTS on the Amy & T.J. podcast. When asked which “divorce” was harder — the show or her split from ex-husband Matthew Lawrence — Burke confidently answered the former.
“Hands down. You can’t compare,” she said.
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Related: Matthew Lawrence and Cheryl Burke's Relationship: A Look Back
Despite participating in 26 seasons of the competition series, Burke was not invited back to pay tribute to late judge Len Goodman during the show’s “Most Memorable Year” episode in October 2023. She speculated that her iHeartRadio podcast played a role in the snub.
“At the end of the day, everyone can say about this show is that they took something away from the show and it made them into a better person somehow,” she also said on the Amy & T.J. podcast. “I always am going back to the fact that I am in gratitude for my experience and my time with the network.”
Whether she still feels a sense of family in the DWTS community, she said concisely, “Definitely not.”
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