Cheryl Burke says developing feelings for your “Dancing With the Stars” partner is so common, she recommends not being in a relationship when joining the show.
“Be single if you do ‘Dancing With the Stars’ –– that’s all I’m saying,” she said while laughing on Friday’s episode of her “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans” podcast.
The former “DWTS” pro explained people often form romance connections with their partners because of how much time they spend together.
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“It’s an arranged marriage. It’s very much an arranged marriage. Seriously, it is black and white –– you either love each other or hate each other for real, and believe me there’s no gray [area],” she continued.
Burke, 40, added that the partners are spending around “8 hours a day, 7 days a week together” for up to three months.
“It’s so intimate, and you’re stuck with this person. Like, you better try and make it work at least, but yeah it’s really, 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 wives,” she continued.
However, Burke later clarified that it may not always be the most “romantic” environment for some of the duos because the scores often correlate to the vibes between the couples.
“If you get low scores, you don’t like each other, you blame one another, but if you have success on the show, you’re like, ‘Oh my God, you’re the best, you’re the best!'” she said.
Burke previously admitted to having a “little bit of a fling” with former NFL athlete Chad Johnson while competing on Season 10 of the ABC dancing show in 2010.
The “Dancing Lessons” author — who was a pro for 26 seasons before leaving in 2022 — also met her now ex-husband, Matthew Lawrence, in 2007 while his older brother, Joey Lawrence, competed on Season 3. The two tied the knot in 2019, but she filed for divorce in February 2022.
Several other “DWTS” pros and contestants have found love or had brief romances with either their partners or other pro dancers on the show.
Former “DWTS” pro Karina Smirnoff previously dated her Season 3 partner, Mario Lopez, from 2006 to 2008 before getting together with fellow pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy. The co-stars even got engaged in 2009 but split a few months later.
Chmerkovskiy moved on and began dating fellow “DWTS” pro Peta Murgatroyd in 2012. He famously proposed on the “DWTS” stage, and they got married in 2017.
Emma Slater and Sasha Farber were also two “DWTS” pros who got engaged during an episode of the show in October 2016. They wed in March 2018 but separated in August 2022.
Slater later sparked romance rumors with her Season 32 partner, Mauricio Umansky, but they later clarified they were just friends.
Maksim’s brother, Val Chmerkovskiy, also found love with co-star Jenna Johnson. They tied the knot in April 2019 and welcomed their first child in January 2023.
When it comes to pros and contestants who have fallen in love, Robert Herjavec famously began dating Kym Johnson after working together during Season 20 in 2015. They got married one year later and share twins.
Nikki Bella also met her husband, Artem Chigvintsev, when they danced together for Season 25 in 2017. They waited two years before starting to date, but they moved quickly after that, getting engaged in 2020. They welcomed a baby together later that year and tied the knot in 2022.
