AceShowbiz - In an episode of her "Sex, Lies and Spray Tans" podcast, Cheryl Burke weighed in on whether judges should hold contestants to higher standards of ballroom dancing. "Yes, [they should]," she said. However, she emphasized that judges must be qualified to critique the performances.

"You have to know what you're talking about," Burke argued. "If you can't back up what you're saying or explain why something should be a certain way, it's hard."

Burke acknowledged that the current judging panel, which includes Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli, may not have extensive experience in ballroom dance. "Unless they get judges with more ballroom experience than some of the current ones, you can't really be more strict in a genre you're not an expert in," she said.

Burke suggested solutions, including requiring judges to take adjudicator's exams administered by the National Dance Council of America. "Just like the pro dancers educate themselves, I feel like the judges should do the same," she said. "Carrie Ann, Derek, Bruno should take the exam. After all these years, why not familiarize yourself with the genre?"

Burke expressed disappointment that the show has become less strict with its ballroom standards, which she believes is reflected in the lower number of classic ballroom dances performed and the influx of contemporary styles.

"Maybe the majority of the judging panel not being experts in ballroom dance is why there are more contemporaries and less sambas," she theorized.

Burke's concerns echo those of current pro Gleb Savchenko, who has compared Hough's technical judging style to that of the late Len Goodman, the former "DWTS" judge who died in 2023. However, Hough has dismissed the comparison, stating that he "wish[es] I was as good as Len."