Former Dancing With the Stars pro Cheryl Burke has a lot of thoughts on the judging panel of the popular reality dance competition. Burke isn’t impressed by the judges on DWTS Season 33, Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough, and Bruno Tonioli, and thinks they need to continue to educate themselves on ballroom dancing.
While answering fan questions on the December 4, 2024, episode of her Sex, Lies and Spray Tans, Cheryl Burke dove into whether judges should return to holding contestants up to “true ballroom dancing” as they used to back in the day. However, the former DWTS pro was quick to note that in order to do so, the judges themselves need to know what they’re talking about. Burke thinks that the show needs to employ judges with more ballroom experience than the current panel, or the existing judges need to take the adjudicator’s exam — which certifies individuals to serve as judges in national dance competitions. Burke expressed her views on the matter extensively, and her remarks included but weren’t limited to the following words:
“If you’re just saying things because you know it’s the right terminology, and you can’t explain yourself as to why it should be a certain way, then it’s kind of hard.”
Burke was trying to make the point that one can’t really critique something if one isn’t an expert. The former DWTS pro also stated that Inaba, Hough, and Tonioli are not experts in the ballroom dancing niche and remarked that judges need to continue educating themselves like pro dancers do. Cheryl Burke was quick to note that she isn’t sure if they have familiarized themselves with the genre — but if they haven’t, they should.
Cheryl Burke Was Left Stunned by Derek Hough’s Generous Scoring
This isn’t the first time Cheryl Burke has thrown shade at the DWTS judges. In the November 30, 2024, episode of her Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans podcast, the former DWTS pro remarked how she was unimpressed by Derek Hough’s scoring during the DWTS Season 33 semifinal episode.
Burke was left appalled by Hough’s scoring of the performances during the semifinal. The reality TV star expressed how Hough was too generous with his scoring and even specifically pointed out the unexpected praise showered on the foxtrot performance by Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson. The former DWTS continued with her critique of Hough’s judgment in the following words:
“Being the main head judge, you’re supposed to call out technique when you see it, and now this is twice where he’s turned a blind eye to it.”
Burke also stated that Hough was giving out too many tens. The podcast episode showed the former DWTS pro handing out her own ranking before viewing how the judges scored the contestants. Burke said she wouldn’t score any of the performances a ten because “no one deserved it.”
ABC is yet to renew Dancing With the Stars for Season 34. In the meantime, you can stream the show’s previous seasons on Hulu.
U.S. reality show based on the British series "Strictly Come Dancing," where celebrities partner up with professional dancers and compete against each other in weekly elimination rounds to determine a winner.
Release Date June 1, 2005
Cast Carrie Ann Inaba , Bruno Tonioli , Len Goodman , Tom Bergeron , Cheryl Burke , Tony Dovolani , Derek Hough , Mark Ballas , Karina Smirnoff , Maksim Chmerkovskiy , Kym Johnson , Sasha Farber , Val Chmerkovskiy , Emma Slater , Sharna Burgess
Main Genre Reality
Seasons
Studio
English (US) ·