Cheryl Burke

Cheryl Burke
Burke in Beverly Hills, California in October 2009
Born	Cheryl Stephanie Burke[1] (1984-05-03) May 3, 1984 San Francisco, California, U.S.
Occupation	Dancer, model, TV host
Years active	1988–present
Height	5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)

Cheryl Stephanie Burke (born May 3, 1984) is an American dancer, model and TV host. She is best known for being one of the professional dancers on ABC's Dancing with the Stars, where she was the first female professional to win the show and the first professional to win twice and consecutively. She has participated in 21 seasons thus far. She came in second on the NBC series I Can Do That. She replaced Abby Lee Miller on Dance Moms in 2017.

Early life

Burke was born in San Francisco, California and grew up in Atherton, California. She is the daughter of Sherri (Bautista) and Stephen Burke.^[2] Her mother is of Filipino descent.

Dancing with the Stars

Burke won her first championship with 98 Degrees member Drew Lachey in the second season. She won her second championship with retired football star Emmitt Smith in the third season. Cheryl returned to the ballroom on March 19, 2007 for Season 4, partnered with actor Ian Ziering. She and Ziering were eliminated in the semi-finals on May 15, 2007. Burke said in an interview that Ziering was her least-favorite dance partner ever on DWTS, that she begged the show's producers to eliminate her every week and that being around Ziering made her want to "slit my wrists"; she later pointedly apologized for the reference to suicide without withdrawing anything she said about Ziering.

Burke in 2008

Cheryl Burke participated in a 38-city Dancing with the Stars tour from December 19, 2006 to February 11, 2007. She also joined the second summer tour, which visited 24 cities between June 20, 2007 in Austin, Texas and July 24, 2007 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Her celebrity partner for both tours was Drew Lachey. Burke competed on Season 5. Her partner was Las Vegas entertainer Wayne Newton. They were the third couple eliminated from the competition on October 9, 2007.^[3]

Burke participated with both Lachey & Newton in the Dancing with the Stars winter tour that kicked off December 18, 2007 in Seattle, Washington. The tour wrapped in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 10, 2008.^[4] Cheryl competed on Season 6 and was partnered with actor Cristián de la Fuente. They trained at Palm Beach, Florida's "Paramount Ballroom," which is owned by former U.S. Nine-Dance Champion Alec Lazo.^[5] They made it to the finals and on May 20, 2008, Cheryl and Cristián placed 3rd in the Season 6 competition.

The dancer returned to the show for Season 7 with partner Maurice Greene. They were eliminated in Week 8 on November 11, 2008 and came in 5th place. She returned to the show's eighth season, in which she was paired with actor Gilles Marini. They were the runners-up for the season, losing to Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas. On August 17, 2009, it was announced that Burke would compete on the ninth season of Dancing with the Stars with partner Tom DeLay (former U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader). On October 6, 2009, Cheryl and DeLay withdrew from the competition because DeLay had stress fractures in both feet.^[6]

For Toy Story 3, Burke choreographed the paso doble with Tony Dovolani and did a performance accompanied by the Gipsy Kings live. She also made a fitness video based on Latin dances with Maksim Chmerkovskiy as co-instructors.

In season ten she was partnered with Chad Ochocinco. They were eliminated in the semi-finals and came in fourth place. Rick Fox was partnered with Burke in the show's eleventh season. They were voted off in the seventh week of the competition and came in 6th place. For the twelfth Season, she was partnered with wrestler Chris Jericho. They were voted off in the sixth week of the competition. In the thirteenth season, Burke was partnered with reality star Rob Kardashian. They came in second place, losing to J.R. Martinez & Karina Smirnoff. In the fourteenth season, Cheryl Burke was partnered with actor William Levy. The couple made it to the finals and finished in third place.

In Season 15, Burke returned with former partner and Season 3 Champion, Emmitt Smith for a chance to win another mirrorball trophy. They were eliminated in the semi-finals. For season 16, Burke was partnered with comedian D.L. Hughley. Despite receiving low marks and harsh criticism from the judges, Hughley and Burke made it halfway through the competition. They were eliminated third in Week 5 of the competition. During Week 8, she danced a Paso Doble with Jacoby Jones and Karina Smirnoff in the trio challenge. For season 17, she was partnered with media personality Jack Osbourne. Osbourne's struggle with multiple sclerosis was a source of inspiration to Burke. They made it to the finals and ended up receiving third place.

For season 18, she was paired with game show host and actor Drew Carey. They were eliminated on Week 6 and ended in 8th place. For season 19, she was paired with soap star Antonio Sabàto Jr.. The couple was eliminated on Week 7 and finished in 8th place. After Season 19, Burke chose to leave DWTS for some time after her contract expired to pursue other projects.

On August 30, 2016, Burke was revealed to be returning to the show to compete on season 23. She was partnered with Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte. After a season off, Burke again returned for season 25, her 20th season as a pro. She was paired with former NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens ^[7] and finished in 6th place. After taking another season off, she returned once again for season 27 where she is paired with actor Juan Pablo Di Pace.^[8]

Other television

Burke had a guest role on the Disney Channel series The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, in the episode "Loosely Ballroom" along with fellow Dancing professionals Louis van Amstel, Ashly DelGrosso, and Lacey Schwimmer. She portrayed Shannon, a nurse attending to the ensemble cast during a dance contest at the series setting, The Tipton Hotel. In the final round of the competition, Burke's character volunteers to replace an ill competitor (Carey). She and her partner, Esteban, go on to win the competition.

She came in second on the first season of I Can Do That, losing to Nicole Scherzinger on the final three-person-super-group performance, having led the competition since week 2. She replaced Abby Lee Miller on Dance Moms in 2017.^[9] She took over the ALDC Elite competition team while on the show.

Burke appeared on Hell's Kitchen as a VIP guest diner in the ninth episode of Season 17.

Awards and honors

• 2005 World Cup Professional Rising Star Latin Champion
• 2005 San Francisco Latin Champion
• 2005 Ohio Star Ball Rising Star Latin Champion
• UK Championships
• 4th in U.S. in the "Under 21s."
• Two-time Dancing with the Stars champion – Season 2 with Drew Lachey, Season 3 with Emmitt Smith
• Prime Time Emmy 2006, Outstanding Choreography
• On October 20, 2007, Cheryl won the Role Model Award at the 7th Annual Filipino/American Library Gala.
• On the 2008 Asian Excellence Awards, she won the Viewer's Choice award for Favorite T.V. Personality.

Personal life

In 2011, Burke released her autobiography, Dancing Lessons. Included in it is a description of how she, at age 5, was molested by a handyman helping her family, who repeatedly fondled her. She believed it was wrong but wanted to gain the affection of the person. The molester was sentenced to 22 years in prison and was released in 2008. Burke said that she is fearful of the person.^[10] Burke has done numerous promotions outside of Dancing with the Stars which include Depend Silhouette briefs, Impress Nails and Sargento Cheese. Her partnership with these companies has raised a lot of money including 50 thousand dollars that Depend is donating to Dress for Success.^[11] She opened her first dance studio in April 2008 and created her own line of activewear the next year.^[12]

In 2017, People and Us Weekly reported Burke is dating Matthew Lawrence.^[13][14] The two first met in 2006, when Lawrence's brother, Joey was cast on DWTS. Burke and Lawrence previously dated from 2007–2008.^[14] The two became engaged after Lawrence proposed to Burke on May 3, 2018, her 34th birthday.^[15]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cheryl Burke.

• Official web site for Cheryl Burke Dance
• Official web site for Cheryl Burke
• Dancing with the Stars biography
• My Ox Is Broken Interview (2006)
• Cheryl Burke on IMDb
• Cheryl Burke interview