Brooke Burke reveals that her winning partnership with Derek Hough on Dancing with the Stars in 2008 went from fraught to “magical.”
Burke, 52, discussed her experience with Hough, 38, in the most recent episode of fellow Dancing with the Stars alum Cheryl Burke’s podcast Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans.
Brooke told Cheryl, 39, upon their first meeting, “I just thought [Derek] was so young, green, and secure. I had no notion that he would be such a formidable and formidable choreographer.”
Brooke confesses she developed a “crush” on Derek over the course of the season, largely due to a round of “valuable” couples therapy arranged by the producers when the couples weren’t “gelling.”
At the time, the presenter was married to actor David Charvet (whom she divorced in 2018), but she told Cheryl, “Had I not been married, I would have hoped we would have had a romantic relationship.”
Cheryl revealed that, as Brooke confessed, “I don’t think I’ve ever said that,” Hough was also gushing behind the scenes about “how hot” his partner was.
“I would have had an affair with him,” Brooke repeated, adding, “But listen, let me explain why: When you are not a dancer, your body is intertwined with another’s. With the exception of a lover or a spouse, I have never been as connected as I was with Derek. And it occurs every day. Therefore, you are in someone’s embrace for three months. Why do you believe individuals fell in love?
You sense them, see them, and inhale them. It can be more intimate than making love in a chamber; when you make love on a dance floor, you feel closer to your partner. If you have vitality, you’re dancing and in the rhythm, then there’s trust, then you’re sharing your fears, and you’re doing something you’ve never done before. How often do you go through a situation with someone where they are your only option?
Seeing the discord, even her then-husband encouraged her to get closer: “David was like, ‘You need to go and speak to Derek, you need to get out of your funk, you need to go connect before a performance.’ Because we had lost all communication. We were in our own universe, but we were a partnership, a team, but we were not acting like teammates.
Among the “issues off camera and in rehearsals,” she noted that Hough, then 23 years old, “was exhausted because he was recording an album at night.” I had a three-month-old infant. I was exhausted from staying up all night and training all day, so my body was depleted. I was hormonal as well.”
“I was a woman and a mother,” she said. I perceived him to be a young male. Simply, we were not convening in a location that served our needs. We therefore attended this life coach therapy session. And I was astonished that it was never broadcast because I believed it to be extremely authentic and valuable.”
According to Brooke, the advice imparted to her and her partner was, “You must be honest with each other.”
For Brooke, this meant, “She wanted me to be able to say, ‘I’m exhausted, I don’t have the energy to be here, my baby cried all night, my family misses me, I’m f—ing scared, I don’t know this routine, you’re being mean, and I’m not okay!'” Because when you are honest with someone, something extraordinary occurs when you meet them with truth and candor.”
