Dancing with the Stars favorite Cheryl Burke joins host and entertainment journalist, Allison Kugel, for her most revealing interview, to date, on the latest episode of the Allison Interviews podcast, out today. Cheryl opens up about her late father’s penchant for philandering and owning strip clubs, how it deeply hurt Cheryl and her mother, and how it impacted Cheryl’s relationships with men. She also expresses her desire to learn more about her Ashkenazi Jewish roots that were kept from her until a 23andMe test revealed them, and her desire to adopt a child.

During the episode, Cheryl also dishes on host Tyra Banks, what type of celebrity makes the worst DWTS partner, which celebrity contestants she still has on speed dial, and how a cheating ex actually led to her being cast on the popular dance competition show that made her famous.

And in what could be the celebrity quote of the year, while describing how hard it is to ballroom dance with an “egotistical and narcissistic” celebrity dance partner, Cheryl quips, “Whenever a celebrity lashes out at me and my [choreography], it’s easier now for me to have compassion and empathy for that person, but it’s still f*cked. It’s still really hard to dry hump somebody when you feel disrespected, put it that way, really hard! And you can’t walk out because we both have a job to do, you know?”

On the subject of her late biological father, she shared with Allison, “My real dad was very non-committal.  I have met brothers and sisters I never knew I had, and I probably have more.  Long story short, he was a very successful attorney in the Bay Area and he then followed his passion, P.U.S.S.Y, and opened up strip clubs in Thailand; I mean a whole [bunch] of strip clubs.”

Addressing Tyra Banks as host of DWTS she shared, “Tyra is someone I watched when I was a little girl. She brings glamour to the show, she really does.  At the same time, she came in at a challenging time.  She came in during Covid, and what’s really difficult for dancers in general is we are really very physical.  We hug people, we don’t do distance very well. I think with Tyra, she came in right at the height of it, so we didn’t have an audience. It was just Tyra, and she had a lot of pressure to become part of a well-oiled machine here on Dancing with the Stars. I love her grand entrances. I love to see what she wears, and I love to see her starting to grow with the show. I seem to have the longest experience when it comes to Dancing with the Stars, as far as camera time goes. It is great to see the show evolve, and I think it’s very important, whether or not Tom Bergeron comes back, I think it’s important that we see these changes to the show. I think there is a comfort knowing that the show’s foundation is still there, but it is nice to throw in some newbies. Whether they survive is another question (laugh).”

The full podcast episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify; and on YouTube or watch below!