‘Dancing With Stars’: Cheryl Burke Calls out Judges Over Scoring

Longtime Dancing With the Stars pro Cheryl Burke has a bit of a bone to pick with the ABC competition. While chatting with Page Six, Burke called out the judges for what she believes to be scoring inconsistencies. She also spoke out on the difficulties she’s experienced while filming DWTS, as she even compared her experience on the show to Survivor. 

When it comes to the judges — Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and Derek Hough — Burke said that she understands that they’re “trying to make good TV.” However, she wants them to be consistent and fair when it comes to the scores. She said that the judges are attempting to judge everyone “on an even playing field,” but that it’s not possible when some of the contestants have past dance experience. According to the professional dancer, having prior experience in the industry can actually hurt the contestants more than one might think. Burke is navigating this issue firsthand, as her partner, Peloton instructor Cody Rigsby, previously performed as a background dancer for celebrities such as Katy Perry. 

“It’s really hard to have someone come on with dance experience because it’s harder to untrain the brain than it is to teach the brain new things,” Burke explained. “I say to Cody, ‘If you feel comfortable, you’re doing it wrong.’ Because your body memorizes the muscle memory right?” She continued, “What we do to our bodies [as ballroom dancers] … we are just moving it in places that shouldn’t be moved. It’s all about opposition, right? So if your hips are going right, your upper body’s gotta go left, and it just looks and feels weird.”

As for what Burke believes should happen going forward, she offered, “I say the judges should cool it a little bit. If you look at the science of how your brain works, it’s a lot harder to untrain the brain.” As previously mentioned, the professional dancer also opened up about how hard the DWTS experience actually is. Burke said that it’s especially difficult for the contestants, as they, of course, haven’t been able to experience anything like DWTS before. She said, “I’ve never done ‘Survivor,’ but I can only imagine. Like, it’s seven days a week, except we’ve got obviously the perks of having water and food. But really, it is full-on, and you’re trying to force your body to do things that, first of all, most contestants have never done before.”