Cheryl Burke Apologizes to ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Partner She Infamously Hated

Cheryl Burke has apologized for past negative comments she made about former Dancing With the Stars partner Ian Ziering, whom she previously identified as the “least favorite” celebrity she had been paired with on the ABC dance competition show. In 2016, Burke said on the Allegedly podcast that her experience with Ziering “made me want to slit my wrists” and recalled “crying to executives” trying to get their team eliminated early in the season — they would go on to place fourth.

During Monday’s episode of the Pretty Messed Up podcast, which Burke hosts with Season 29 partner AJ McLean, the dancer addressed the comments she had made about the Sharknado star, saying it “haunts [her]” to this day. “The one thing I truly regret and want to make amends with is Ian Ziering,” Burke said. “I was completely out of line a few years ago, and I did a podcast where they were asking me who my favorite partner was and who did I hate the most. And I answered Ian Ziering, and I said something along the lines of ‘I’d rather slit my wrists than dance with Ian Ziering again.’”

“I truly am so sorry for being so inconsiderate and just talking, trying to get a reaction and putting him as my punching bag, really,” she continued. “I took it to that next level of nastiness. I was so nasty. And I’m here to publicly apologize to Ian and his family… I lost a lot of respect for myself. It haunts me till this day.”

Back in 2016, Burke also offered up an apology on Twitter, though she didn’t address Ziering directly. “I’ve always lived by the rule that if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Recently and regrettably, I broke that rule. In the heat of an interview conversation, I used a phrase that seemingly makes light of suicide and I deeply regret it,” she wrote on social media at the time.

“I have many friends and family members that struggle with depression and thoughts of suicide. To have said something that seemingly makes a mockery of what they’ve gone through and what they live with is something that I apologize for,” she continued. “I never meant to hurt anyone or to trivialize the topic. I was out of line and for that, I apologize.” The Beverly Hills, 90210 alum has yet to respond to either set of comments from Burke about their time together.