Cheryl Burke Offers Advice To Celebrities Looking To Join ‘DWTS’: “Be Single”

Cheryl Burke is warning celebrities in relationships against joining Dancing with the Stars.

Burke, who left the dancing competition show in 2022 after 26 seasons, recently revealed that anyone hoping for a spot on DWTS should be ready to “drop everything, including your personal life.” According to the professional dancer, the “insane” rehearsal schedule oftentimes brings celebrities and their pro partners together on a more intimate level.

“It’s an arranged marriage. And it is black and white,” she said on the May 31 episode of her Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans podcast. “You either love each other or hate each other. For real.”

Burke continued, “You’re not like, ‘Oh yeah, he’s cute.’ Like, no, no, I either like you or I don’t because you’re constantly [together] eight hours a day, seven days a week. That’s insane. For three months? And you’re vulnerable.”

The podcaster then discussed a former celebrity contestant who admitted to having a crush on his partner, despite them both being married to other people at the time.

“It’s so intimate, and you’re stuck with this person. You better try and make it work at least. You get close in so many ways,” she said. “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.”

She added, “Be single if you do Dancing With Stars. That’s all I’m saying.”

Burke recently confessed to having three “showmances” with previous partners throughout her time on the show, though she told her listeners that they were all rooted in “lust.”

“It’s not love, right?” she said. “It is in that moment. Then you’re like, ‘Wait a second, how is this person, like in the real world?'”

Dancing with the Stars is currently available to stream on Disney+.