The CeleBURKEtion

Cheryl begins to sift through ‘life after dance’ amidst the conclusion of her DWTS run and everything that came with it. With so much to be thankful for and so much to look forward to, the celeBURKEtion is just beginning. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
This is Burke in the Game and I heard radio
podcast Welcome to Burke in the Game. It is Cheryl Burke.
And it has been a week now since my final
bow and my farewell. Holy sh it, lots of emotions.
But honestly, I think I cried it out basically, uh

(00:27):
the last month of the season, because I don't necessarily
have tears. It's more like maybe a little bit of
shock that I pulled the trigger here. But mainly I
have just been reminiscing through the whole time and experience
I've had on the show and amazing I guess relationships

(00:48):
and connections I've made both you know, the talent side
of Dancing with the Stars and behind the scenes. I am,
you know, still, I guess a little nervous and scared
for um, what is next? Right Like I have, I
have all these opportunities, which is a great thing. However,

(01:11):
nothing is set in stone yet. Um, you know, I
have to wait it out and I have to really
be okay with living in this uncertainty. The last time
I took a hiatus from Dancing with the Stars, it
was when I had a contract in place to go
over to NBC to do I can do that. This
time around, it's very different. You know, they really did

(01:32):
a proper send off which was so beautiful and I
will start to talk about that as well as soon
as I finished this thought. But it was, um, you know,
I was basically playing it safe the last time in
that in that sense, I wanted to try something different,
and so I did. You know, there was a few
times I did take a break because I needed it,
whether that would be you know, back even before I

(01:53):
did I Can Do That, I went to Argentina to
learn how to Argentine tango, and you know, I came
back revived. I took a break to do my life
stage show in Japan, Love on the Floor for a
season or two. Um, you know, again, it was straight
into all of this, right, so I knew I had
a backup plan, and then I took that break to

(02:14):
go over to NBC's I Can Do That. Now this
one feels different because you know, never have they given
a pro dance er a proper farewell dance and send off,
um like they did with me last week. And I
don't have necessarily the next thing that I'm doing. However,
I'm still fully involved in my dance program body language

(02:39):
that I am hoping to launch with a partner in
the early I would say early, right, And there is
and there has been lots of interviews and auditions for
this one show that I can't necessarily tell you guys
what it is, but it's a bit very popular or

(03:00):
show that UM A lot of people have watched UM
and it is obviously that is still up in the
air depending on you know, how the ratings are for
that show. And that's all I can say so far.
I'll I will know more though either end of January
or beginning of February. But yes, it is scary, and

(03:21):
I do now understand what it means when athletes say,
you know, when it's the end of their career, they
go into a dark place because you know, really this
has defined my life. You know. This is what I
said to Tyra when she asked me what I'll miss
most about Dancing with the Stars. It's my family, because
they truly this show as a whole has been my

(03:42):
identity in every single way. I just saw my first
audition that I did back in two thousand five for
Dancing with the Stars, and then I basically compared it
to what I had just said with Tyra as far
as an interview goes, and wow, I've grown so much.
And again I just want to thank Dancing with the
Stars for really and I meant every single word, for

(04:03):
helping me find my voice. They have been a part
of my identity. But like with anything, you know, it's
time to spread my wings and fly. However, I don't
plan on necessarily. I think a lot of people I've
seen because as you know, I read comments, some people
have insinuated that I need to I'm focusing on my
own mental health. Well that is false. Um. Yes, I

(04:26):
will always be focusing on my own mental health. Like
I've said before, I'm a work in progress. Um, but
that is not the reason for me leaving the show.
You know, I left the show because I want to
grow as a person in my career and personally. To
be quite honest, I've compared this breakup in a way
to a divorce. So this would be my second divorce

(04:47):
of the year. Um and this one, though, is more amicable.
As I've said in interviews. However, you know, if this
show doesn't necessarily see me more than a professional dancer,
and again I don't say that lightly, then I'm moving
on you know, for me, I need it's important. I've
always been this way. I need to make it official.
You know, I had discussions with my team before announcing

(05:10):
my retirement, and I don't like to say the word
retirement because I'm not retiring off of television or I'm
not retiring. I'm just retiring basically hanging up my dance
shoes is the best way to say to say it,
because I truly believe my life has yet to begin. Um.
And you know, for me, retirement feels like, um, I'm
really just retiring at an early age. And that's not

(05:33):
the case. I'm going to be working harder than ever,
but in something different, in something that I've now grown
up and to fall in love with, which is mental
health as a whole, not not just my own, not
just to be curious about me, but to also you know,
continue with really, you know, using the platform that I've
been able to create through the show and use it

(05:57):
to be in service of other people. To to be
able to talk about my experiences with my own mental health. UM,
that doesn't mean I'm checking into the nearest rehap, So
I just want to make sure that is clear. UM.
I think a lot of people too when it comes
to you know, how open I am, believe that, oh,
she's in pain or she's not okay. The amount of

(06:18):
people who I guess in a way have been ignorant
um to say to me, are you okay? Are you
sure you're okay? I think there's still a huge stigma
when it comes to mental health, therapy and anything I
guess in quotes, negative emotions are not a negative thing.
Me being in therapy isn't negative, and me wanting to
talk about my past and my mental health is not negative.

(06:41):
It is actually quite the opposite. I believe it falls
under that umbrella of vulnerability, of being open enough to
be able to share, to be courageous enough to be
able to share my own story and to be able
to tell it is a blessing. And if anything, I
believe people come up to me and friends of long
time friends really who don't know how to necessarily ask

(07:04):
me what is has been going on? They just ask
if I'm okay, and they think I'm in pain because
I have been crying lately. I have cried in front
of people I don't know and people I do know. Um, However,
that doesn't mean that I'm not okay. You know. I
think we have to change the way that we define feelings,
because feelings is a normal thing to have. Now, owning

(07:30):
it and facing your feelings is a different story. I
think that I've always put a brave face on, but
I've been even more broken inside. I'm not broken right now.
If anything, it's quite the opposite. And I think for
people who haven't seen me in a long time, that
I've known for since I was a teenager, they probably
think that this is a cry for help, me talking

(07:50):
about my feelings. But that's not the case at all.
This is actually the most healing. This is my work.
This is part of the work that I'm doing. This
is the most healing process or the most healing step
of them all. I think is being able to do
this and have I questioned myself like, Cheryl, are you okay? Absolutely,
because there's still that you know inside me, there's still

(08:13):
that little girl that doesn't trust my feelings. But I
think that we should celebrate when people are emotional instead
of label them as being not okay or crazy or
she needs to get some help or take this this
should help you, or shoot up with this this like
it's so that alone is there's really nothing to fix

(08:35):
it right like this emotion, and as I've experienced quite
a lot recently, the emotion of crying, like really crying,
it goes away in less than five minutes for me,
at least it does. And so I've just really tried
knowing that has created a safe space for me just
to be able to cry when I want to cry. So,

(09:06):
speaking of crying, prior to my farewell dance, we do
this thing called camera blocking, as you know, where we
rehearse um um. This time for the finale. It was
on a Saturday as opposed to Sunday because it was
a big finale, a lot of couples, everyone comes back
that got eliminated, and I was crying like a baby.
I don't think I've ever cried while dancing like the

(09:28):
way I did on Saturday when we blocked um this
farewell dance, to the point where Pasha was like, Uh,
You're not gonna do this on Monday, right because I
forgot I blocked out, but I got it out of
my system and then I am happy I did that
because I knew, okay, come Monday, we we actually I
have to avoid tears at all costs because I really

(09:48):
wanted to perform at my best on Monday, which I
do believe that I did. I feel like I hit
that fourth state of consciousness. I feel like I hit
that flow state where I don't really remember every detail,
I just remember. I think I got a total of
what seven hours of sleep that finale week last week,

(10:09):
which is uh to something I don't recommend. I have
a hard time sleeping anyway, since I've been sober. Um,
I only sleep like maybe four to six hours at
the most a night. However, I do do transcendental meditation
twice a day, which is supposedly for the science um
is equivalent to a few hours of sleep basically added

(10:30):
onto your whatever how many hours you slept that night. Anyway,
my point is is that during rehearsal on Monday, dress
rehearsal and blocking prior to that, I was exhausted stamina wise,
Like Sasha even came up to me, Sasha, Pasha. Sasha
was like, don't run out of steam towards that ending,
because at that very end of that dance we do

(10:52):
like this fast samba. They're called boakada section um. It's
about katas. Anyway, too hard to explain via just using
my voice. But it went really fast, and that was
when I died at it. Every that it was like
clockwork at that moment. That was when my stamina. I
would just be like, Oh, I think I'm gonna die.

(11:12):
I think I'm gonna die. I had so much energy
when it was live and when when I danced that
dance live that I had no idea. I definitely prayed
right before I went out because I was so nervous
that I wasn't going to get through it, meaning like
just being so exhausted and tired. I had two hours.
I got two hours of sleep that Sunday night prior

(11:33):
to the finale, and then it was done and it
was a beautiful and I watched it back. It took
me a while to wash it back because I was
really nervous as to what it was going to look like.
But everyone was like, oh my god, that was the
best that you've ever done it, and I felt amazing.
All I knew was that I did not run out
of steam whatsoever, And it was really nice to be

(11:55):
able to say my you know, and to show my
gratitude or to say to say thank you to the
cast and crew of Dancing with the Stars, and I
just want to thank the production again for allowing me
this time. I know that the finale is about the finalists,
is about you know, the amazing mirrorbal Champs, Mark Ballace
and Charlie Damilio, um, who I think should have won

(12:16):
hands down. So I'm happy that the results was the
way it was, um, And I'm just grateful that they
in a way shared the spotlight, just you know, for
me to say goodbye and just to give me that moment,
that couple of minutes that they did. So I'm grateful.
I'm so happy for all the four finalists, the four couples.

(12:36):
They're very well deserved, I think, and I believe that
the same thing when it comes to the mirrorbal Champs.
I'm so happy Mark Ballace came back. I remember, you know,
in the beginning of the season, Mark was like, I
just don't know. I haven't moved my body in like
five years, you know, because he took a long time
off of the show. However, he hasn't lost anything. He

(12:57):
is creative, if not even more creative. I love Charlie
as a person, and um, I think she's amazing. She's
so humble and she is the real deal, and saying
with her whole family I met didn't meet her sister,
um yet, but her mother Heidi, you know, we've become friends.
We're going to start being workout buddies. And then I
met her dad as well, and they're really just normal people.

(13:19):
And UM, grateful for this experience and I love that.
I love. I just love when people are so successful
yet still so real and UM not so I guess
affected by the fame. So yes. I also want to
thank Louie and Pasha. Um, this was such a memorable

(13:41):
way for me to go out on a high note. UM,
thank you Tyra Banks for giving me this moment as
well and saying how she was a fan and how
she remembered I'm the first memory that comes to her
mind when saying dancing with the stars. Are thinking dancing
with the stars, and she basically said, what a way
to retire going out on top of your game, because

(14:03):
you still got it. And so thank you for those
kind words. And thank you to Alfonso as well for
um sending me off. I guess, uh this is wow.
I still think I'm feeling all these fields. And I
have said as well that this is worse than my divorce.
When it comes to the emotional side of things, I, um,

(14:25):
you know, met my ex husband on this show. I again,
everything goes back to Dancing with the Stars. This is
every day is going to be. I have to take
it one day at a time, just like my um,
just like my program, my a program. I think to
think too far in advance, even just to think of
like what's next. You know, it's so funny how everyone

(14:46):
asks me what's next instead of just celebrating that I
have ended in era. I think that if um, we
were in Europe, it would be different. But here in
the States, you know, it's always about what's next instead
of really living in the moment. And That's what I'm
going to try and do. I'm trying. I'm trying to
just tune out the noise, at least that type of

(15:07):
like noise that I feel maybe anxiety over when it
comes to what's next, what's next. It's like, let's just
celebrate the now. I did seventeen years. I did my
time on that show, and UM, I did it to
the fullest. There's no regrets. I have made this decision,
and again do I hope to be still a part

(15:29):
of the brand, yes, but I'm not banking on it,
that's for sure. And I'm happy that I took the initiative,
you know, I think at the end of the day,
I like I've said, this has been a long time coming,
and I would have liked this to be my decision
as it was, rather than me hitting mid forties no
longer being able to move and being let go. Right anyway,

(15:52):
I don't know what they're gonna do moving forward. However,
I know what I'm gonna do. I am gonna slowly
start to peel away the umbilical cord or slowly cut
the umbilical cord that is still connected very much to
the show, and not in a negative way, but I
need to start letting it go. And so here I

(16:12):
am saying that. And UM, thank you to all of
my fans and to this podcast for letting me just
be me and a non edited version of me. UM,
thank you for accepting me and not judging me. Um.
I appreciate every single one of you, and I look

(16:33):
forward to my next chapter, whatever that may be. But
until then, I'm going to just be right here, right now,
taking it one minute at a time. I love you guys,
I will talk to you soon. I hope you had
a great Thanksgiving and stay safe out there. Bye bye.

(16:53):
Thanks for listening and coming along this journey with me.
If you like what you hear, then feel free to
give this podcast five stars. You can also follow along
with my journey on Instagram at burke in the Game
and if you have any advice or want to write in,
then email me at burke in the Game at i
heeart radio dot com