Cheryl Burke: Her story and how SUCCESS was her rock bottom

Welcome back to The Truth About Addiction! I have a very special guest today and boy does she have a story to tell. A sexual abuse survivor and rocketed to fame, Cheryl Burke tells us about her childhood, her inability to speak for years, her stroke of luck landing DWTS and her rock bottom-success. Tune in and hear another miraculous story about addiction, recovery and healing.

MORE ABOUT CHERYL

         With over thirty years of dancing experience and several championship titles under her belt, two-time Emmy nominated professional dancer Cheryl Burke first discovered her love of dance at the age of four, taking ballet lessons and performing throughout herhometown ofSan Francisco, California. At age eleven, she discovered what would be her winning talent, Ballroom Dancing, and decided to hang up her ballet shoes to begin training competitively all over the world in both the International Standard and International Latin Ballroom Dance genres. At age twenty-one Cheryl rocketed to stardom as the star of ABC’s surprise hit television show, Dancing with the Stars,becoming not only the firstfemale professional dancersto win the show but also the first person in the history of the franchise to become a two-time, back-to-back, Mirrorball champion, winning her first two consecutive seasons, with NFL superstar and Hall of Famer, Emmitt Smith and 98 Degrees boy bander, Drew Lachey. In 2015, Cheryl starred alongside Joe Jonas, Ciara, Nicole Scherzinger, Alan Ritchson, Jeff Dye, and Marlon Wayans in NBC’s, I Can Do That, a variety show that challenged celebrities to step out of their comfort zonesand learn new skills in a matter of days.2016 marked Cheryl’s return to Dancing with the Starswhere she’s danced alongside Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte, NFL Hall of Famers Terrell Owens and Rey Lewis, Telenovela stars Cristián de la Fuente and William Levy, reality stars Rob Kardashian and Jack Osbourne, and Backstreet Boy, AJ McLean. For her twenty-fifth appearance on the long-running program, she partnered with popular Peloton instructor Cody Rigsby to a third-place finish in Season 30 and Cheryl’seighth appearance in the Finals. Cheryl created, directed, wrote, executive produced and starred on Love on the Floor, a live stage show featuring professional dancers of all genres as well as Olympic Gold Medalists and World Champion ice skaters coming together to tell a story of love and its many stages through movement. The evocative stage show included many different genres of dance choreographed by multiple Emmy Award winning choreographers and was produced by live event giant IMG. On stage Cheryl was joined by Olympic figure skating greats Kristi Yamaguchi, Meryl Davis, Charlie White, and Daisuke Takahashi. Love on the Floor made its worldwide premiere in June of 2016 in Shibuya at the famous Orb Theatre in Tokyo, Japan where it grossed over two million dollars in ticket sales in just ten sold out shows.

On top of hosting her highly rated and popular podcast, Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans, Cheryl isa regular segment host for the popular daytime talk showThe Jennifer Hudson Show. Cheryl continues to expand her brand platform and launched launch Body Language in January2024. Body Language focuseson the therapeutic benefits of healing through movement, which Burke has experienced, first-hand. As an avid mental health advocate, her passion in life is to share her story publicly and courageously and in turn help others find their path to overall wellness.