Cheryl Burke will make her grand return to the “Dancing With the Stars” ballroom three years after her departure, but this time on the other side of the judges’ table.
The former “DWTS” pro competed for 26 seasons and won two back-to-back Mirrorball trophies, making her the longest-running professional dancer on the reality competition series. Now sitting in the judges’ seat, Burke has a new set of nerves.
“I’m nervous that I won’t be able to get to my point of view because of the time constraint,” she told TheWrap. “I’m only going to talk in sound bites from now until Tuesday.”
Burke is not nervous about speaking her mind or giving her critique, though. After head judge Len Goodman’s passing in 2023, the dancer threw her name in the ring to be his replacement. While the position went to her longtime competitor and most-decorated winner Derek Hough, Burke was eager to return to the show that defined her career in any way she could.
“I’m just grateful that they even asked for me to come back to the ballroom,” she said. “But also the added bonus, obviously, is to be a guest judge, and to be able to return in a new role, where hopefully I can empower the other couples.”
The Mirrorball champion is not the only former pro to return to the ballroom this season. Kym Herjavec guest judged on “Dedication Night” alongside regulars Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and Hough. Fans praised her constructive, applicable feedback, while other judges have been dismissed for harsh criticism this season.
Season 34 of “Dancing With the Stars” has broken viewership and voting records. In its 20-year history, the dance competition series has yet to build an audience of this magnitude. Much of the growth is from the show’s sustained prevalence on TikTok. Burke complimented the show’s choice to bring on pros who are active on social media already.
“I’ve seen so many people just making content, thinking or sounding like they’re experts of the craft of ballroom dancing,” Burke said of the TikTok fandom. “It’s great that community has been brought to the show more than ever. It’s going back to the essence, I believe, of what the show is about, which is family.”
As for the haters, who have come for pros, stars and judge alike, Burke said that is par for the course.
“It just creates people to have their own opinions, but I think what saves us at the end of the day is the fact that there is a technique book, and most of us pros definitely have studied it,” she said. “There’s a reason why the judges are the judges too, because regardless if you agree with them or not, they’re helping the community have an open conversation about just dance and the art form itself.”
In Burke’s day, it was only 10 votes per phone line. Now fans at home can vote 10 times per couple per voting method, racking up the total voting tally to a combined 100 million for Week 6.
“Halloween Night” provides new challenges for the pros and stars, including a marathon dance round. Burke said that the key to surviving the competition is to keep growing. Those that stay stagnant may get left behind, she says.
“You’re starting now to see fatigue set in because it’s past the halfway point,” she said. “Staying authentic and focusing on improving week after week is really the key. It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish this competition.”
The themed night also gives the duos a chance to lean into dramatics and fantastical elements in their dances. Burke said she’s looking for couples that lean into the music and give her chills.
“I want to see the couples first of all, own the music, instead of having the music own the couples,” she said. “The challenge with ‘Halloween Night’ and doing ballroom dancing is, how can you make it as authentic and stay true to the actual genre of dance while still obviously portraying the character that was assigned?”
As the 20th anniversary approaches, the dancer said she would be open to returning in any capacity the ABC series would have her. Burke was noticeably absent for the alumni tribute to Goodman but has remained a fan of the show.
“Like with any family, you go through ups and downs, but I have always been consistent with this,” she said.
“If you were to ask me this when I was just watching as a viewer, back when I lived in Harlem and I was a starving dancer with my partner watching Season 1, that this show would still continue to this day, and it would be something like a consistent job for me, I would have laughed in your face. Like there’s no way,” she said.
Now, nearly 20 years later, Burke is still grateful to the casting directors, who took a chance on her in 2006 and have defined her career two decades later.
