Maksim Chmerkovskiy went off on his former “Dancing With the Stars” co-star Cheryl Burke in a new interview.
During an October 9, 2024 interview on the “Behind the Velvet Rope With David Yontef” podcast, the veteran pro dancer criticized Burke and admitted that he regretted his September 2023 appearance on Burke’s podcast, “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans” because he feels her show focuses on “negative stuff” from their days on “Dancing With the Stars.”
“All she has about the show is just negative stuff,” Chmerkovskiy told host David Yontef. “You know, that’s all she talks about. Like for so long and the only foundation for your conversation is negativity? The only people you get on your show are those who were wronged or feel like they were wronged and they’re there to express their wrongness or whatever. ”
“You know, I also did her show,” he added. “Had I known that that was the topic, not the topic, but her direction, I would never do it because I don’t want to be a part of that.”
In September 2023, Burke told TV Line she enjoyed catching up with Chmerkovskiy and asking him rapid-fire questions on her podcast. “I think you’ll find some of his answers quite shocking,” she teased at the time. “We talk about where the show was and where it is today.”
Maksim Chmerkovskiy Said Burke Needs to ‘Sit Back and Reflect’
Burke was a pro dancer for 25 seasons of “Dancing With the Stars,” winning two mirrorball championships during her long run on the ABC dance-off . She retired from the show in late 2022.
On her previous podcast, “Burke In the Game,” she said she planned to focus on her mental health and “grow as a person” after leaving the celebrity ballroom show. She soon launched the “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans” podcast, which features interviews with past DWTS dancers and celebrities. In April 2024, Burke admitted she sometimes worries about “getting in trouble” for “speaking her truth” on her podcast.
Chmerkovskiy told Yontef he thinks Burke should go back to reflection. “I think that Cheryl needed to sit back and reflect on her stuff, you know, instead of starting a podcast that’s just so vile and so dirty and so negative,” he said.
Chmerkovskiy claimed that Burke features guests talking about past incidents that are “completely taken out of context.” He also noted that the new podcast episodes often drop on Tuesdays, the same day the DWTS results are in. “I mean everything is just directed at, you know [the show],” he said. “I think Cheryl needs to do a lot of soul-searching. She needs to do a lot of discovery, you know. … You got to move on. And she hasn’t.“
“The case in point is like you’re going to carry that negativity with you,” he added. “This isn’t therapeutic. This isn’t therapy. This is just, you know, gossiping and talking nonsense. And someone like me will never support her podcast again, you know. And I’m not going to support her, period, because I feel used by her with her guests for the most part.”
Chmerkovskiy said things he did 20 years ago have been repeatedly referenced on the podcast “This isn’t moving on,” he said. “This is like, I’m so negative about stuff. I’m going to talk negative [expletive] and I’m going to call it the podcast about negative stuff from ‘Dancing with the Stars.’ It’s all clickbait. There’s no substance to it. You’re just… rewinding things. Like man, let’s just move on and find happiness in not being a part of it.”
He reiterated that Burke hasn’t moved on from her past role on DWTS. “Even when I was on the show, I was about what’s next,” Chmerkovskiy added. “When Cheryl was on the show she was not about what’s next. It was about being a ‘Dancing With the Stars’ professional for the rest of her life. And the second she did not or she was no longer, she wanted a different position on the show. And when she didn’t get it she got super upset and came out with a podcast where she’s going to be trashing the show that made her who she is. So that to me makes no sense.”
Chmerkovskiy also vowed that he would never support Burke again.
As of this writing, Burke has not commented on Chmerkovskiy’s rant.
Cheryl Burke Previously Explained the Reason For Her Podcast & Apologized to Those She Offended
When Burke’s podcast debuted in the fall of 2023, she was hit with backlash from some who felt she was overly negative when talking about the “Dancing With the Stars” season 32 premiere.
She posted a video message to her Instagram page on October 4, 2023, to apologize if she offended anyone, and also to clarify the point of “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans.”
“I’ve received some shocking messages around my new podcast and I just want to clear the air here,” Burke said. “First off, I deeply apologize to anyone taking offense to any of my comments on my podcast. However, I just want everyone to know my intention is never to be mean. It’s my truth and it’s my opinion and I am so sorry if it hurt or affected anyone.”
Burke explained that she is “honest” when asked for her opinion and would never “sugarcoat” anything. “As an employee now of iHeart Media, my job is to honestly state my opinion about a show which has been my whole life for the last 17 years,” she added of her podcast.
Soon after, Burke and fellow former pro Sharna Burgess were not asked back to the ballroom to participate in a pro dancers’ tribute to late DWTS judge Len Goodman. At the time, Chmerkovskiy hinted that Burke’s negative talk about the show could have had something to do with the snub.
“I think we all have a specific relationship with the show,” he told the U.S. Sun in November 2023. “I have a relationship with an entity for 17 years now. We have our ups and downs, and we see eye to eye and then we don’t. The casting, the production, the musical direction. I mean we have a relationship with so many people in that place. So do Sharna and Cheryl…and everybody else. So, I’ll leave it to what the relationship is and isn’t to kind of be the answer to being invited or not.”
