Cheryl Burke Advises Celebrities to “Be Single” If They Do ‘Dancing With the Stars’

Cheryl Burke

David Becker/Getty Images for iHeartRadio

Dancing with the Stars alum Cheryl Burke is revealing why romances sometimes spark between pro dancers and their celebrity partners on the hit ABC show.

On a recent episode of her Sex, Lies and Spray Tans podcast, the professional dancer confirmed she had three “showmances” during her time on the series after being asked why so many pairs start to date.

“It’s an arranged marriage. … And it is black and white. Either love each other or hate each other for real,” she explained.

Burke, who left Dancing with the Stars in 2022 after 26 seasons, said relationships forming are partly due to contestants having to constantly be “vulnerable” as well as the demanding rehearsal schedule, which requires the pairs to spend an “insane” amount of time together.

“It’s so intimate, and you’re stuck with this person … you better try and make it work at least,” she said. “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 [partners].”

Burke went on to share some advice for celebrities hoping to go on the dance competition show: “Be single if you do Dancing with Stars. That’s all, I’m saying.”

The dancer was later asked if she ever fell in love with any of her partners over the years, but Burke noted that her “showmances” were only a result of “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?’”

During her time on Dancing with the Stars, Burke became the first female professional to win the show and the first person in the franchise’s history to become a two-time, back-to-back, Mirrorball Trophy champion.