Cheryl Burke reveals she danced with Charlie Sheen for 1 day on “Dancing With the Stars”
The pro dancer says she tried to help ABC convince Sheen to be on a season of the dance competition: "I knew it was going to be a hard no."
Cheryl Burke once briefly hoped that she and Charlie Sheen would make a #winning pair on Dancing With the Stars.
While talking with Sheen's ex-wife Denise Richards on her podcast Sex, Lies and Spray Tans, Burke revealed that she was almost partnered with Sheen on the show. "Fun fact: I danced with Charlie for one day," Burke said. "Maybe you don't know but he was going to do the show."
Burke then elaborated on her experiences meeting and dancing with Sheen. She received a call from production, telling her that they were potentially getting a huge name for the next season of the ABC hit, but that his team wanted Burke to train him.
"I was like, 'Are you sure?'" she recounted. "'Because if you're trying to convince somebody to do the show, I might not be the right person.' Because I hate lying, and I just don't want to lie about how the process is. It's beautiful, but it's freaking a lot of work. I'm not even going to deny that. And there's a lot of press and a lot of interviews, and all of this stuff."
Even with that caveat, Burke met with Sheen. "I taught him a few steps," she continued. "I'm sober now for almost six years, and I have a lot of compassion for him. He seemed so cool, and he was a lot of fun. But then he started asking me questions. He asked me, 'How many interviews do we have to do? Do we have to go and do press?' And I told him, 'Yeah, we do. We're going to GMA. Like we're going to Good Morning America.'"
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Charlie SheenStill, Burke isn't sure if it was his lack of interest in doing interviews or his lack of confidence on the dance floor that led him to drop out. "I don't know what it was," she said. "He judged himself right away. He was like, 'I suck at this,' and I was like, 'No, no, no this is just the first few steps.' I taught him a waltz or something. We talked more than we danced to be honest. He would be a great candidate."
Sheen previously addressed his near-miss with DWTS, telling Us Weekly in 2019 that he backed out because he didn't have the moves. "I was very flattered by ABC and their offer," he said. "But at the end of the day, I have two left feet and I just can't dance."
While Burke noted that Sheen could absolutely overcome his lack of natural ability, Richards, who appeared on the eighth season of the show, added that she couldn't see Sheen being up for the physical challenge of the show. "He doesn't like to work out," she said. "There's a lot of physical activity with dancing. ... He also wouldn't want to do interviews. It would be a great challenge for him and something that he should do, but he doesn't like to sweat."
Burke laughed at Richards' frankness and further admitted that she could tell almost immediately that Sheen wasn't going to do the show. "He was really sweet and kind and humble, but I knew as soon as we were finished that it was probably going to be a hard no," she concluded. "This show brings out vulnerability in you — and if you're not willing to be courageous or transparent in that way, this show could actually swallow you up."
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