Former “Dancing With the Stars” pro Cheryl Burke admitted that she used to hold secret rehearsals with a former dance partner while under contract on the show.
On the September 2 episode of the “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans” podcast, Burke said that she and her season 27 partner, Juan Pablo di Pace, would practice longer than the time allowed by producers.
“I’m gonna be honest, because I’m no longer under contract, we had secret rehearsals. And I keep saying this to people. With the four hours that is allotted for each couple, this show wouldn’t be where it is if if it would still be on because of the dance quality. So we would go and rehearse,” she said.
Burke and di Pace finished the competition in 5th place. Burke competed on 26 seasons of DWTS before announcing her retirement in 2022.
Cheryl Burke Doesn’t Think She & Juan Pablo di Pace Would Have Made it as Far Without Extra Rehearsal Time
Burke was very candid in explaining that she felt as though she and her partner needed the extra time. And, since he was willing to put in the extra work, she went for it.
“When you give me twenty four seven, I take twenty four seven. So it’s like we would have our four hour rehearsals. Within the rehearsal time, there’s interviews and all of that. We take a little break and I’m like, meet me over here wherever we went, and we have to wait until the studio was available at times, which means it wouldn’t start sometimes till 9 p.m., 10 p.m., and we would be going at it until one or two in the morning,” she said on her podcast.
“I don’t think I would have or we would have been able to execute some of the things that we executed without them,” she added.
Despite the extra rehearsal time, the two were eliminated before the finals. At the time, di Pace expressed disappointment.
“I mean, we wanted to go to the finals. At least the finals. I think we worked so bloody hard to get here, and to put on a show every Monday, and to wow. Maybe that’s not what people want to see?” he told ET in November 2018.
Burke also weighed in.
“Or maybe people thought, ‘You got perfect scores every week, so we don’t need to vote.’ That’s what happens. And it just depends [on different factors]. Maybe people want to see somebody with two left feet all of the sudden become a dancer. I don’t know,” she told the outlet.
Some Fans Have Wondered if Cheryl Burke Could Get in Trouble for Her Podcast
Following her retirement from “Dancing With the Stars,” Burke started her DWTS-based podcast. She has on various past cast members and stars from the show, all of whom talk about their experience with dancing.
On an April 2024 episode, Burke answered some fan questions. One person had asked if she ever worried about getting in trouble for the things that she says.
“Yes and no,” she responded. “Sometimes it just depends. Like, you know, it’s like feelings.
It all ebbs and flows. But really, some days I’m stronger than others. And some days I don’t feel like speaking my truth because sometimes I’m like, it’s none of your business and I’m just going to get [expletive] for it anyway,” she continued.
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