Former Dancing with the Stars pro Cheryl Burke made the difficult decision to retire from the show in November 2022. She performed one last time in the ballroom. In February 2022, Cheryl filed for divorce from her husband, actor Matthew Lawrence. Their divorce was finalized two months before Cheryl quit the show.
Now Cheryl is launching a new podcast, titled Sex, Lies and Spray Tans. She hopes to delve into the backstories of celebrities and pro dancers who were sent home early from DWTS. And this new project brought up some feelings.
Breaking up with the ballroom was tough
“This has been the worst divorce because … though it was my choice, it doesn’t matter,” Cheryl told US Weekly. “This was a part of my life [for] almost half of my life.”
She continued, “I think doing this podcast, though, is helping me grieve in a weird way. I can’t run away from the fact that this has been a part of my life, nor would I want to. I am never going to bite the hand that feeds me still to this day,” Cheryl added.
“And also, this is my family — regardless if it’s dysfunctional or not — they saw me grow up in front of their eyes. And same thing with the fans, which is why I do believe, I feel like I owe this to them,” Cheryl explained. Spill all the glitter and tea, Cheryl.
“I’m not here to bad-mouth the show, by any means. I’ll always be Dancing with the Stars‘ No. 1 fan, but I don’t believe that we’re doing our fans justice by just showing them a minute of that package prior to our live performance, and then we go dark after the season’s over and that’s it,” she stated.
Cheryl also thinks that DWTS fans need a more mature forum to discuss the show. “I’ve always said Dancing with the Stars needs a show called Dancing with the Stars After Dark because we have so much to talk about. Whether it be Disney-appropriate — probably not, which is why it would be After Dark,” Cheryl said. “But this is what this podcast is, and I think we do owe it to our loyal fans and to our new fans. Absolutely.”
Season 32 of Dancing with the Stars premieres on Tuesday, September 26 at 8/7c on ABC, streaming live on Disney Plus, and available the next day on Hulu.
TELL US – ARE YOU GOING TO MISS CHERYL ON DWTS? ARE YOU GOING TO LISTEN TO HER NEW PODCAST?
