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Cheryl Burke: Ian Ziering, My ‘Least Favorite’ DWTS Partner, ‘Made Me Want To Slit My Wrists’

By Jonathan Franks
Published on: 03:54 PST, Apr 17, 2016

Cheryl Burke, a former pro dancer on Dancing with the Stars, recently opened up about her past with the show.

DWTS fans and critics more than likely remember Cheryl Burke’s presence on the show’s dance floor for over 18 seasons. Keep in mind that Cheryl walked away with the coveted Mirror Ball trophy twice — an accomplishment that many of the DWTS pro dancers have yet to experience at all.

According to E! Online, Cheryl worked hard to get her respective partners to the Final Two dancing pairs on four different occasions.

Therefore, most people would agree that she didn’t necessarily go down in DWTS history as a loser, either.

During a recent podcast interview with Theo Von and Matt Weiss, according to TMZ, Cheryl Burke had a chance to reflect on her extensive journey with Dancing with the Stars –– sharing things about the experience that she has never shared before.

For instance, Cheryl apparently did not hold anything back when it came to identifying the person that she placed on the bottom of her list when it came to her favorite Dancing with the Stars partners. For the bottom spot of her list, she chose none other than Sharknado star Ian Ziering.

“My least favorite [partner] would be Ian Ziering. The fact that his name is not EE-AN and it’s EYE-AN makes me want to throw up.”

Theo and Matt reflected on their honest opinions about Ian Ziering in the seventh season of The Celebrity Apprentice, which was hosted by Donald Trump. Theo and Matt referred to Ian’s time on the show before getting fired after the 11th task as “very intense” and “captivating.”

However, Cheryl Burke placed a different spin on his Celebrity Apprentice behavior — claiming that it was an honest portrayal of his behavior behind the scenes of Dancing with the Stars, as well.

“That’s the true colors that they didn’t show on Dancing with the Stars... Think of spending time with that for like eight to 10 hours a day, seven days a week for three months.”

Cheryl Burke had already established herself as a first-class competitor on Dancing with the Stars– winning the Mirror Ball trophy in the show’s second season (with former 98 degrees singer Drew Lachey) as well as the third season (with NFL legend Emmitt Smith). However, she apparently did not enjoy her experience during the show’s fourth season much at all simply because of being paired with Ian Ziering.

“It made me want to slit my wrists. I was like crying to executives. I was like is there any way to please to just eliminate us? They’re like, ‘We can’t. We can’t do that.’ And I swear, every time I asked, we just kept going. We would last till the end.”

Cheryl Burke and Ian Ziering danced their way into the hearts of the judges, audience members and at-home viewers week after week. Even though they did not win that season, the fact that they still placed fourth even with the alleged backstage drama speaks volumes.

In a March, 2007, interview with Buddy TV, Ian Ziering painted a different picture of his experience working alongside two-time champion Cheryl Burke. Even though he claimed to have “been blessed with some rhythm,” he admitted that he had no ballroom skills. He called Cheryl “a great teacher” that was “very patient,” stating that she was “able to communicate in a way” that he understood — showing him the steps instead of just telling him.

As of right now, Ian Ziering has not commented publicly or via social media in response to what Cheryl Burke said about their journey on Dancing with the Stars together. However, Cheryl did make it clear that she did not feel it was very “amazing” at all.

[Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images]

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