Brooke Burke recently opened up about her “really disappointing” exit from Dancing With the Stars.
She initially appeared as a celebrity dancer on ABC’s dance competition series, winning the Mirrorball Trophy alongside professional dancer Derek Hough in 2008.
Burke returned to co-host with Tom Bergeron three years later and remained part of DWTS from Season 10 through Season 17.
Several weeks ago, Bergeron joked about what he missed most from DWTS, although he said he’s happy not to be hosting anymore.
Meanwhile, Burke spoke to Curtis Stone on his QVC+ and HSN+ series, Getting Grilled, and it seems she might’ve liked to remain on ABC’s show longer.
While she admitted to Stone it might have been the best time to leave as she “probably had enough” DWTS, she also realized she probably wanted “more.”
Burke comments on her ‘really disappointing’ DWTS departure
Burke said that looking back in “hindsight” about her leaving DWTS, she wasn’t quite ready to leave and could’ve stayed as co-host.
“As a host, when you’re on a live show, it was a long time and I think I was ready to do other things. But I think it’s shocking when there’s a change in our business, just to humanize it, to be honest, to be vulnerable,” Burke told Stone.
Burke called it “really disappointing” to be fired from the show, as she had to embrace sudden changes in her career and life.
In her February 2014 tweet, Burked referred to it as a “Shocking pre-season elimination #DWTS…ME.”
“@Tom_Bergeron didn’t even read my name. I won’t be returning to the show this season,” she told fans.
“I wasn’t expecting it. Not that we can ever have a plan in Hollywood [because] you know we can’t. Things change like that for a variety of reasons. It was, for sure, time for a number of reasons on both sides. But yeah, I think that kind of change is always a bummer,” she recently shared on Stone’s Getting Grilled.
Burke said her DWTS audition was the ‘right move’
As mentioned, Burke won Season 7 of Dancing With the Stars. Following her Mirrorball Trophy, she said she was interested in auditioning to become a co-host but was told that was unnecessary because she was already a “ballroom princess.”
However, Burke asked to undergo a “chemistry test” with Bergeron and said it was the “right move” as they “just lit up together.”
She became the new co-host of DWTS following Samantha Harris’ departure. While Burke said exiting the show was “really disappointing” for her, she still spoke highly of her time working on the show.
“It was an amazing experience as a host. It was so fun to dress up as a princess every day and go to work and also just to connect with everybody that I had worked with, to give some love and compassion to all the contestants, to really understand what they’re going through. It was a good ride,” Burke said of her time co-hosting DWTS.
Burke also praised Bergeron as an “amazing” and “brilliant” host who “never had an ego” and was a “great partner” for her when they hosted the show.
The current DWTS lineup features several individuals who previously appeared on the show. Former contestant Alfonso Ribeiro now hosts, with dance professional and judge Julianne Hough as his co-host.
Since leaving the show, Burke has appeared on other TV shows, including as a contestant on The New Celebrity Apprentice in 2017 and hosting Penn & Teller: Fool Us last year. She also launched the Brooke Burke Body app, which features her workout videos.
Dancing With the Stars Season 33 premiere is TBA for ABC and Disney+.