The 'Dancing with the Stars' pro reveals her battle with addiction while talking about being partnered with AJ McLean, who has been open about his ongoing sobriety journey, on the dancing competition series.
- September 30, 2020
AceShowbiz - Cheryl Burke has gotten brutally honest about her battle with alcohol addiction. In a new revealing interview, the "Dancing with the Stars" pro-dancer opened up about the turning point in her sobriety journey, claiming that it has got to do with the death of her alcoholic father.
The 36-year-old makes the revelation when appearing in the Tuesday, September 29 episode of "LadyGang" podcast. "My father passed away, and then my dad was an alcoholic, so either I was gonna crash and burn and check myself into rehab or I was gonna just quit cold turkey," she spilled. "That's just my personality. It's either black or white."
Cheryl brought up the topic of her sobriety after co-host Keltie Knight spoke about AJ McLean, her season 29 partner in the long-running dance competition who had battled drug and alcohol addiction himself. "That's why I really wanted AJ," she confessed, "because I'm like, for him to be maybe partnered with someone who is just, like, still fresh in the scene or likes to go out, I was a little worried just as a friend in a way."
During the chat, the two-time "DWTS" champion further disclosed that she had quit drinking for "two years now." Though so, she confessed that she had not joined the Alcoholics Anonymous program. "It was just a decision that I made for myself," she pointed out. "And it was when Matt and I got engaged and it was during that engagement party that we were just like . or that I was like, he didn't even know. I was just like, I was done."
As for her partnership with AJ, Cheryl boasted that she "bonded right away" with the Backstreet Boys member when in quarantine from the coronavirus pandemic before the start of the season. The wife of actor Matthew Laurence mentioned that the two of them had "therapy talks" together since they have gone through the same experience.
"AJ also has influenced me in a positive way with him being sober and we can talk therapy talk,†she told Us Weekly on Monday. "We go pretty deep to where I almost sometimes feel like the producers, they're probably like, 'These people! Therapy 101!' Really, it's great because I like to spend time with people who can really talk to on that deep, deep level."
