Brooke Burke

Early life

Brooke Lisa Burke was born in Hartford, Connecticut and raised in Tucson, Arizona, the younger of two siblings born to Donna and George Burke. Her mother is of Portuguese background but was adopted and raised Jewish. Her father is of French and Irish descent and left the family when she was two years old. She was thereafter raised by her Armenian stepfather in her mother's Jewish religion; and is raising her children Jewish although she also celebrates Christmas.

She attended both Sahuaro High School and Palo Verde High School in Tucson where she was homecoming queen in 1989. She later studied broadcast journalism.

Television

Burke's first national exposure came in the early 1990s modeling lingerie for the Frederick's of Hollywood catalog, but her first television claim to fame was her hosting of Wild On! on the E! network from 1999 to 2002. In 2001, Burke competed in the TV show host edition of The Weakest Link and was voted off in the second round. In 2005 and 2006, she hosted the CBS summer reality show, Rock Star, a series in which aspiring singers competed to front a rock band.

Burke, with Derek Hough as her partner, won season 7 of Dancing with the Stars. She later replaced Samantha Harris as co-host of the program. She began hosting season 10 of Dancing with the Stars alongside Tom Bergeron. On February 22, 2014, it was announced that she would not return to the show for its 18th season.

In 2009, she hosted NBC's pre-show for the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards with Tiki Barber and Nancy O'Dell.

In August 2010, she hosted the third season of the TV Land series She's Got the Look, a modeling competition show for women over 35. She co-hosted the 2011, 2012, and 2013 Miss America pageants with Chris Harrison. She once again served as the co-host of Miss America for its 2016 pageant. Burke-Charvet was a participant on The New Celebrity Apprentice (also known as The Apprentice 15 and The Celebrity Apprentice 8) but eliminated after twelve tasks.

Dancing with the Stars performances

On November 25, 2008, Brooke Burke & her partner Derek Hough won the competition, beating Super Bowl Champion Warren Sapp & his partner Kym Johnson. She is tied with Kristi Yamaguchi and Nicole Scherzinger for the most weeks at the top of the leaderboard with 8 out of 10 weeks.

Magazine appearances

Brooke Burke has appeared in men's magazines such as Maxim, Stuff, Playboy, and FHM. In 2007, she was listed as one of Blender's hottest women of film and TV.

Entrepreneurial ventures

In 2007, Burke started a company, Baboosh Baby, which offers wraps for pregnant women. The company's website features a blog from Burke about her children.

Books

Burke's first book, The Naked Mom: A Modern Mom's Fearless Revelations, Savvy Advice, and Soulful Reflections, was published February 1, 2011, by New American Library. It features her reflections on motherhood, Hollywood, romance, and the challenges of creating a blended family.

Advertisements and video games

She was the voice and face of Rachel Teller in Electronic Arts' video game Need for Speed: Underground 2, and asks the "People and Places" questions in the video game Trivial Pursuit Unhinged. Burke starred as a playable character in the Burger King advergaming title PocketBike Racer and in Big Bumpin'.

Burke has fronted infomercials promoting a Swiss ball video home fitness workout named Gunnar Peterson's Core Secrets, and appears in the first video of the series, titled 20 Minute Full Body Workout. The infomercials have screened in New Zealand and Australia. Burke has also landed roles in several television commercials for Discover Card, Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Busch, M Professional Cosmetics, and Skechers.

2016-2017 She is featured extensively as the spokesperson for Kimberly-Clark subsidiary Poise incontinence products.

Personal life

Burke has been married twice. Her first marriage was to plastic surgeon Garth Fisher. They had two daughters, Neriah and Sierra, divorcing in 2005.

She started dating actor and singer David Charvet in 2006. While cohabitating, they had a daughter (Heaven Rain, born 2007) and a son (Shaya Braven, born 2008). Burke and Charvet married on August 12, 2011, Brooke announcing that she would be known as Brooke Burke-Charvet.

On November 8, 2012, Burke-Charvet announced she had thyroid cancer and underwent surgery. On December 12, 2012, she made another announcement that all cancer had been removed.