{"id":107841,"date":"2025-10-29T23:07:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T23:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/107841\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T23:07:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T23:07:08","slug":"cheryl-burke-reveals-why-she-was-so-nervous-about-her-dwts-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/107841\/","title":{"rendered":"Cheryl Burke Reveals Why She Was \u2018So Nervous\u2019 About Her \u2018DWTS\u2019 Return"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cheryl Burke<\/a> made a triumphant return to the Dancing With the Stars<\/a>\u00a0ballroom on October 28<\/a>. She wasn\u2019t holding frame, but rather holding up paddles as she joined longtime colleagues Carrie Ann Inaba<\/a>, Derek Hough<\/a>, and Bruno Tonioli<\/a> at the judges\u2019 table.<\/p>\n

TV Insider spoke with the two-time Mirrorball champion right after the show on the ballroom floor to get her thoughts on stepping back into the iconic ballroom<\/a> in a new role. Burke happily accepted the show\u2019s invitation to appear on the show as a judge. However, she admitted to having some opening night jitters, hastening to add that they soon dispelled once the competition commenced.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so nervous before, and then, when I sat in the chair, I felt oddly relaxed,\u201d she admitted. \u201cIt was a weird feeling in a good way because I think I had thought of every worst-case scenario in my head, as I tend to do. It felt like an out-of-body experience for those two hours in one way. I just tried not to overthink it. I reacted to what I saw, and I tried to focus on helping the couples with my comments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burke gave competitors what she herself craved from judges when she was a Mirrorball contender. \u201cI want feedback that I can take with me into the next week,\u201d she said. \u201cYes, my celebrity partner wants to hear good things, but I could give that. I want to hear constructive criticism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Cheryl<\/p>\n

Cheryl Burke, Derek Hough, Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli – ‘Dancing With the Stars’<\/p>\n

Disney\/Christopher Willard<\/p>\n

Burke felt she accomplished her goal, especially when she critiqued Dylan Efron<\/a> and Daniella Karagach<\/a>\u2018s Viennese waltz by telling The Traitors winner to lead with his legs and pretend someone was pulling his hair back. \u201cI would have given Val [Chmerkovskiy] and Alix [Earle] at \u201810\u2032 for their Tango if he didn\u2019t break hold,\u201d Burke revealed. \u201cI don\u2019t care if no one [else] mentions it because as far as I\u2019m concerned, the rules have not changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Does Burke consider herself a strict judge? \u201cI think I\u2019m staying in my lane and that\u2019s my style,\u201d she responded. \u201cI\u2019m not going to pretend that I know Contemporary or Jazz. I still don\u2019t. Maybe that\u2019s why I was nervous [in the beginning]?\u201d<\/p>\n

Burke also credited Ezra Sosa<\/a>, who\u2019s enjoying his second season as a dance pro, for his choreography with celebrity partner, Olympian Jordan Chiles<\/a>. \u201cHe did a phenomenal job,\u201d Burke raved. \u201cLet\u2019s give him credit. I think people expected her to be a gymnast [in her dances]. We know she can do that. Let\u2019s not do what people expect. She can move, and she can also be emotional.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCheryl did great,\u201d Sosa told TV Insider, returning the compliment. \u201cI loved her criticism, and I loved her feedback. I also feel like she\u2019s had an itch to be a judge for so long. I\u2019m very happy she had this chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Cheryl<\/p>\n

Cheryl Burke, Derek Hough, Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli – ‘Dancing With the Stars’<\/p>\n

\u201cCheryl\u2019s great,\u201d concurred Mark Ballas<\/a>, who is paired with Whitney Leavitt<\/a> from The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives<\/a>. \u201cShe\u2019s OG. I\u2019ve known her since we were 12 and 13 years old. She knows what she\u2019s saying and what she\u2019s doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burke, in fact, is savvy enough to know that it\u2019s too soon to call who the finalists will be in this ultra-competitive season. \u201cI can\u2019t answer this until I see [couples] do two solo dances,\u201d she said when asked to predict finalists for this season. \u201cThat will separate them. Next week, there\u2019s a team dance, but when they do two dances in one week? Ask me then.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for her fellow judges, Burke gave them all a \u201c10\u201d for making her feel so welcome. \u201cI\u2019ve known Derek since he was 12,\u201d Burke said with a smile. \u201cI forgot to press my score for the first four couples, and they were all wonderful [to me]. Carrie Ann was so supportive. It just felt right being there with them. It felt like home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judges don\u2019t normally wear costumes, but since Burke was a guest judge on Halloween Night, she dressed up as Cleopatra. \u201cI\u2019m not used to wearing a beaded anything anymore,\u201d Burke good-naturedly quipped to TV Insider. \u201cThis is 75 lbs. heavy! I think I was Cleopatra in a past life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dancing With the Stars, Season 34, Tuesdays, 8\/7c, ABC and Disney+ (Streaming Next Day on Hulu)<\/p>\n

For a more extended celebration of two decades of Dancing With the Stars, from exclusive interviews to retrospectives and must-see photos, pick up a copy of TV Guide Magazine\u2019s<\/a> Dancing With the Stars 20th Anniversary special issue, available for purchase online at DWTS.TVGM2025.com<\/a> and on newsstands now.<\/p>\n

Read the latest entertainment news on TV Insider<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cheryl Burke made a triumphant return to the Dancing With the Stars\u00a0ballroom on October 28. She wasn\u2019t holding…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":107842,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[26059,77602,16811,26058,156,111,139,69,437,77603],"class_list":{"0":"post-107841","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-carrie-ann-inaba","9":"tag-cheryl-burke","10":"tag-dancing-with-the-stars","11":"tag-derek-hough","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-new-zealand","14":"tag-newzealand","15":"tag-nz","16":"tag-tv","17":"tag-tv-insider"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107841"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107841\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}