NEWSCheryl Burke Claims 'Bachelorette' Producers Didn't Want Her as the Lead Because She Was a 'Sloppy Drunk'
Oct. 25 2023, Published 11:47 a.m. ET
Cheryl Burke claimed the reason she hasn't been the lead on The Bachelorette is because she used to drink too much.
While chatting with former Bachelor host Chris Harrison, who left the show in 2021 after his controversial Extra interview, the Dancing With the Stars pro confronted him about "blocking" her from getting the coveted part.
Chris Harrison denied he ever picked the lead of the ABC series.
“They put that on me? Yeah, like I have that much power. Like I have the power to decide who the Bachelor, Bachelorette is,” Harrison sarcastically said while chatting on his podcast, "The Most Dramatic Podcast Ever." "That's funny."
Chris Harrison left the show in 2021.
“So they told me that you said the reason why, they said that I didn’t get to do The Bachelorette because Chris Harrison said that you’re a sloppy drunk," the 39-year-old claimed.
Cheryl Burke claimed she was denied as the lead because she drank too much.
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“You know what’s great and what’s beautiful? They, in public, would never give me that power to decide who the Bachelor, Bachelorette,” he said.
Meanwhile, Burke, who split from Matthew Lawrence in February 2022, is on the prowl and back in the dating game — but she admitted it hasn't been all its cracked up to be.
“There’s boundaries, right? Like, I have boundaries. All of that got kind of, I guess, foggy because I didn’t really know who I was as a person,” the reality star noted of her prior relationship with the actor. “But I did know that even back then, that this just doesn’t feel right. It didn’t feel right. I knew that this wasn’t [right], whether it’s because of me evolving or him evolving or us evolving, but not together. It was important to, first of all, try, which we did.”
Cheryl Burke split from Matthew Lawrence in 2022.
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“We did try. We were in therapy,” she said of trying to make their marriage work. “You know what? This isn’t what it was. And to walk away with no shame and to walk away with my head held up high was something that I’m proud of to this day. Because it’s not ever fun to say that you’re divorced in your thirties and I’m not the cookie-cutter social norm when it comes to married [with] kids and happily ever after. It’s just — that’s not my story and that’s OK. And I think being able to forgive myself and to just go with my gut and trust myself is a really big step for me.”
