Retired “Dancing With the Stars” pro Cheryl Burke opened up about her father’s death and explained the real reason that she didn’t compete on the Athletes season of the show.
“With that whole thing with my father, there was so many unanswered questions for me. And my father drank heavily as well. There was two different causes of death,” Burke said on the January 20 episode of the “Old-ish” podcast.
“Like it was a hot mess. I mean, we had to hire like armed guards. It was crazy,” Burke continued. “I went crazy. So I turned into Claire Danes from Homeland because I didn’t get any answers. So I found out, I broke into my father’s every account I could possibly think of because he would leave like weird things on Post-its,” she added.
Burke explained that she got so caught up in the investigation, that she took a season away from “Dancing With the Stars.
“I skipped out on Athletes of Dancing With the Stars because I was like, I’m going to find the reason why he got killed, obviously. But I wanted answers,” Burke said.
Burke retired from DWTS in 2022 after 26 seasons on the show.
Cheryl Burke’s Father Died in 2018
Burke’s father, Stephen Louis Burke, died on March 9, 2018.
“Dad, if I had one more chance to have you here with me today, I would do things differently. Every day I would tell you how much I love you. I miss you so much already. Rest In Peace,” the former “Dancing With the Stars” pro captioned an Instagram post on March 19, 2018.
Burke’s relationship with her father was up and down after her parents’ divorce. She and her dad didn’t speak for a decade but had reconnected.
“I just wanted to make sure that everything in my life was okay, and I felt like there was that void in my life. I have a wonderful stepfather who has been my father, but it was really important for me just to reach out to my dad. Just for me and to like, have some closure if anything really were to happen,” Burke told Bethenny Frankel in 2012.
Six years later, however, Stephen Burke died. He was 67 years old.
Cheryl Burke Experienced a lot of ‘Pain’ After the Death of Her Father
This isn’t the first time that Burke talked about losing her dad, either. In December 2018, she took to Instagram to share her thoughts on the year.
“There’s not a day that goes by when I don’t think about my Dad. I have never been through so much pain, heartache and sleepless nights since he passed away,” she said.
“When I got that call in March, a call that I’d never wish upon anyone to receive, my life changed forever. I’m sure you all have heard of the saying ‘whatever you do, don’t take anything for granted.’ Well, that saying is so unbelievably true,” she added.
