The 37-year-old 'Dancing with the Stars' pro dancer shares in a new interview that she consideres it as she wants to start a family with husband Matthew Lawrence.
- Sep 15, 2021
AceShowbiz - Cheryl Burke gets candid about the stress she gets from her career as a professional dancer. During her appearance in the Monday, September 13 episode of "The Tamron Hall Show", the 37-year-old shared that it took a toll on her body and mind.
"You know as a dancer, especially as a woman, our career, it doesn't last very long," Burke said. "The fact that I'm 37 and still sambaing out there and shimmying is pretty unheard of."
The "Dancing with the Stars" pro dancer added, "I'm not in the competitive level anymore, but still I also have to understand that I have arthritis in my body, you know, like, the pounding and pounding and pounding. [I'm] technically leading our sports players or whoever we're dancing with, right?"
Burke hinted at retirement, saying that she considered it now that she wanted to start a family with husband Matthew Lawrence. The impact of pro dancing on her mental health was also among the reasons why she lamented on it.
"I also have body dysmorphia that I deal with as well that comes with the business that also came even before I moved here to Los Angeles. So there's all that that I have to deal with," she explained. "Then I have to think about -- okay it's not just me now it's me and my husband, and what do we want for our future?"
She continued, "I do know in my heart, I feel like 24 seasons is a huge accomplishment and I am grateful for that experience, but I'm not like these other girls who just had babies and can just bounce back. I know my body, but I also, more importantly, know my own mental health and if I have this body image issue that I'm dealing with, again, if this [points to her head] is not okay I can't perform."
Burke, who first joined "DWTS" in 2006, first hinted at retirement from "DWTS" back in November 2020. In an episode of Barstool Sports' "Chicks in the Office" podcast, she said, "My hips don't lie, and I'm starting to get tendonitis. For a woman, as far as ballroom dancing competitively goes, normally in their 30s [they retire]. I'm 36, so it's like, 'Okay, time to hang up those shoes.' "
She also joked that she didn't "want to be that oldie that's like, 'Oh, here comes Cheryl doing the same choreography, just going slow, but in her head, she thinks she's going that fast.' I also don't want to, I guess, be a dancer and have my partner having to be, like, 'Can't lift.' ... There's a time and a place for it all."
