Cheryl Burke

Early life

Burke was born in San Francisco, California, and grew up in Atherton, California, she is of Filipino descent the daughter of Sherri (Bautista) and Stephen Burke.

Dancing with the Stars

Burke won her first championship with 98 Degrees member Drew Lachey in the second season. She won her second championship with retired football star Emmitt Smith in the third season. Cheryl returned to the ballroom on March 19, 2007 for Season 4, partnered with actor Ian Ziering. She and Ziering were eliminated in the semi-finals on May 15, 2007.

Cheryl Burke participated in a 38-city Dancing with the Stars tour from December 19, 2006 to February 11, 2007. She also joined the second summer tour, which visited 24 cities between June 20, 2007 in Austin, Texas and July 24, 2007 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Her celebrity partner for both tours was Drew Lachey. Burke competed on Season 5. Her partner was Las Vegas entertainer Wayne Newton. They were the third couple eliminated from the competition on October 9, 2007.

Burke participated with both Lachey & Newton in the Dancing with the Stars winter tour that kicked off December 18, 2007 in Seattle, Washington. The tour wrapped in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 10, 2008. Cheryl competed on Season 6 and was partnered with actor Cristián de la Fuente. They trained at Palm Beach, Florida's "Paramount Ballroom," which is owned by former U.S. Nine-Dance Champion Alec Lazo. They made it to the finals and on May 20, 2008, Cheryl and Cristián placed 3rd in the Season 6 competition.

The dancer returned to the show for Season 7 with partner Maurice Greene. They were eliminated in Week 8 on November 11, 2008 and came in 5th place. She returned to the show's eighth season, in which she was paired with actor Gilles Marini. They were the runners-up for the season, losing to Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas. On August 17, 2009, it was announced that Burke would compete on the ninth season of Dancing with the Stars with partner Tom DeLay (former U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader). On October 6, 2009, Cheryl and DeLay withdrew from the competition because DeLay had stress fractures in both feet.

For Toy Story 3, Burke choreographed the paso doble with Tony Dovolani and did a performance accompanied by the Gipsy Kings live. She also made a fitness video based on Latin dances with Maksim Chmerkovskiy as co-instructors.

In season ten she was partnered with Chad Ochocinco. They were eliminated in the semi-finals and came in fourth place. Rick Fox was partnered with Burke in the show's eleventh season. They were voted off in the seventh week of the competition and came in 6th place. For the twelfth Season, she was partnered with wrestler Chris Jericho. They were voted off in the sixth week of the competition. In the thirteenth season, Burke was partnered with reality star Rob Kardashian. They came in second place, losing to J.R. Martinez & Karina Smirnoff. In the fourteenth season, Cheryl Burke was partnered with actor William Levy. The couple made it to the finals and finished in third place.

In Season 15, Burke returns with former partner and Season 3 Champion, Emmitt Smith for a chance to win another mirrorball trophy. They were eliminated in the semi-finals.For season 16, Burke is partnered with comedian D.L. Hughley. Despite receiving low marks and harsh criticism from the judges, Hughley and Burke made it halfway through the competition. They were eliminated third in Week 5 of the competition. During Week 8, she danced a Paso Doble with Jacoby Jones and Karina Smirnoff in the trio challenge. For season 17, she is partnered with media personality Jack Osbourne. Osbourne's struggle with multiple sclerosis was a source of inspiration to Burke. They made it to the finals and ended up receiving third place.

For season 18, she paired with game show host and actor Drew Carey. They were eliminated on Week 6 and ended in 8th place. For season 19, she paired with soap star Antonio Sabàto Jr.. The couple was eliminated on Week 7 and finished in 8th place. After Season 19, Burke chose to leave DWTS for some time after her contract expired to pursue other projects.

On August 30, 2016, Burke was revealed to have returned to the show to compete on season 23. She was partnered with olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte. After a season off, Burke is set to compete on season 25, which is her 20th season as a pro on the show. She is paired with former NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens.

Since her start in the second season of the show, Cheryl has achieved 18 perfect scores and 88 perfect 10s (without counting the marathons and relays). Additional feats include making it into the final stage of the show six times and her nine appearances in the show's semi-final stage. She is the only female pro that has gotten all places in the finals at least twice (1st with Drew Lachey and Emmitt Smith, 2nd with Gilles Marini and Rob Kardashian, 3rd with Cristian de la Fuente, William Levy and Jack Osbourne, with Mark Ballas being the only other pro.

Season 2: Celebrity Partner Drew Lachey

Season 3: Celebrity Partner Emmitt Smith

Season 4: Celebrity Partner Ian Ziering

Season 5: Celebrity Partner Wayne Newton

Season 6: Celebrity Partner Cristián de la Fuente

Season 7: Celebrity Partner Maurice Greene

Season 8: Celebrity Partner Gilles Marini

Season 9: Celebrity Partner Tom DeLay

Season 10: Celebrity Partner Chad Ochocinco

Season 11: Celebrity Partner Rick Fox

Week 4 – Double Score Showdown – Technique/Performance score

Season 12: Celebrity Partner Chris Jericho

Season 13: Celebrity Partner Rob Kardashian

Season 14: Celebrity Partner William Levy

Season 15: Celebrity Partner Emmitt Smith

Season 16: Celebrity partner D.L. Hughley

Season 17: Celebrity partner Jack Osbourne

Season 18: Celebrity partner Drew Carey

¹Score by guest judge Robin Roberts.

²For this week only, as part of the "Partner Switch-Up" week, Drew Carey did not perform with Burke and instead performed with Witney Carson. Burke performed with James Maslow.

³Score by guest judge Julianne Hough.

⁴Score by guest judge Donny Osmond.

⁵Score by guest judge Redfoo.

Season 19: Celebrity partner Antonio Sabàto Jr.

¹Score given by guest judge Kevin Hart in place of Goodman.

²The American public scored the dance in place of Goodman with the averaged score being counted alongside the three other judges.

³This week only, for "Partner Switch-Up" week, Sabàto Jr. performed with Allison Holker instead of Burke. Burke performed with Alfonso Ribeiro.

⁴Score given by guest judge Jessie J in place of Goodman.

⁵Score given by guest judge Pitbull in place of Goodman.

Season 23: Celebrity partner Ryan Lochte

¹ Score given by guest judge Pitbull.

Acting

Burke had a guest role on the Disney Channel series The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, in the episode "Loosely Ballroom" along with fellow Dancing professionals Louis van Amstel, Ashly DelGrosso, and Lacey Schwimmer. She portrays Shannon, a nurse attending to the ensemble cast during a dance contest at the series setting, The Tipton Hotel. In the final round of the competition, Burke's character volunteers to replace an ill competitor (Carey). She and her partner, Esteban, go on to win the competition.

Awards and honors

Personal life

In 2011, Burke released her autobiography, Dancing Lessons. Included in it is a description of how she, at age 5, was molested by a handyman helping her family, who repeatedly fondled her. She believed it was wrong but wanted to gain the affection of the person. The molester was sentenced to 22 years in prison and was released in 2008. Burke said that she is fearful of the person. Burke has done numerous promotions outside of Dancing with the Stars which include Depend Silhouette briefs, Impress Nails and Sargento Cheese. Her partnership with these companies has raised a lot of money including 50 thousand dollars that Depend is donating to Dress for Success. She opened her first dance studio in April 2008 and created her own line of activewear the next year.

Burke began dating Matthew Lawrence in July 2017. The two first met in 2006, when Lawrence's brother, Joey was cast on DWTS. Burke and Lawrence dated each other from 2007-2008.