Cheryl Burke has been open and vulnerable about many aspects of her life over the years, and now she’s peeling back the curtain to reveal alleged abuse suffered when she was a teen.
The “Dancing with the Stars” professional dancer opened up about her high school experiences with her boyfriend of four years during her upcoming appearance on “Red Table Talk.” The alleged abuse by the boyfriend is even worse when his parents’ reaction is accounted for.
According to Burke, the unnamed boyfriend “whipped me with a belt and I had bruises all over my legs.” Even worse, she added, “I remember his parents were watching it [and] didn’t do anything. And it wasn’t like he was hitting me. He was whipping me.”
Burke has previously opened up about a series of toxic relationships after being sexually abused as a child. She spoke about being “addicted” to the wrong types of men during a video chat on her YouTube page, and how she continued that behavior after high school.
Compound that with her struggles with alcoholism, and she endured many difficult and challenging years. According to Burke, she finally broke her dating habits when she started seeing Matthew Lawrence in 2007.
“I think when I look back on this time in my life, I could sit here and say that I wish these things had never happened to me, but I look at it now as every part of my story has helped me to become the woman I am today,” Burke said in that video.
She said that she’s chosen to be forthcoming and open with her experiences and her past because, “I am living proof that where you are in life does not need to be where you are forever.”
Burke is also celebrating four years of sobriety, which she says have been some of the most challenging years of her life even outside of that journey.
It began when she and Lawrence got engaged in 2018. They finalized their divorce this past September. She also recently lost her father, who also suffered with alcoholism.
Burke competed in the currently-airing Season 31 of “Dancing with the Stars,” partner with her long-time friend and “Good Morning America” meteorologist, Sam Champion. They were eliminated in 13th place. She continues to appear in featured performances.
Cheryl Burke’s appearance on “Red Table Talk” drops Tuesday on Facebook.
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