It isn't just the celebs on Dancing With the Stars who've had to overcome adversity. Dim those ballroom lights and settle in for a deep dive into the dark secrets of the show's pros.
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00:00It isn't just the celebs on Dancing with the Stars who've had to overcome adversity. Dim
00:04those ballroom lights and settle in for a deep dive into the dark secrets of the show's
00:09prose.
00:10Cheryl Burke's long career on Dancing with the Stars began in 2006, and she continued
00:14to compete on the show on and off until 2021, making her one of its most seasoned pros.
00:19But early on, her secret struggle with alcohol misuse was affecting her performance. In a
00:24September 2021 essay for Us Weekly, Burke explained that the March 2018 death of her
00:29father changed things for her, writing,
00:31"'His death served as a wake-up call to me. I could either numb everything the way I always
00:35had or I could finally let myself feel all of those feelings of grief, sober.'"
00:39But it was an incident on Season 10 of Dancing with the Stars in 2010 that really drove home
00:44the fact that her drinking was becoming an issue. At the time, NFL player Chad Ochocinco
00:48was her partner. In an October 2020 episode of her podcast, Pretty Messed Up, Burke said,
00:53"'It was still when I was drinking, and I remember messing up on my own choreography.
00:57I butchered my own routine when I'm supposed to be there for the celebrity.'"
01:00Unfortunately, this just made her ramp up her drinking. She told Heart of the Matter
01:04host Elizabeth Vargas that there came a time when she was drinking multiple vodka sodas
01:08every day. She described herself as a functioning drunk. Thankfully, Burke turned her life around,
01:14and in 2021, she celebrated being sober for three years. She credited her decision to
01:18talk about her journey on her podcast with helping her maintain her sobriety, writing,
01:23"'Being public about my struggle made me hold myself accountable.'"
01:26How long the Dancing with the Stars pros stay in the competition each season is tied not
01:30only to the technical ability of their partners, but to the celebs' popularity. So when a star
01:35behaves badly, there's a major incentive for the pro not to address it in front of the
01:39cameras. What they can't prevent or control, however, are leaks hitting the press about
01:43the behind-the-scenes drama. David Hasselhoff, for example, was reportedly a real hassle
01:47to work with. When the Baywatch star competed on Season 11 in 2010, an insider told Us Weekly
01:53he was a diva. Hasselhoff would apparently change his rehearsal schedule constantly,
01:57among many other demands, disappointing his partner Kim Johnson. The anonymous source
02:01went on to say,
02:02"[His people would call staffers 20 times a day.] At first, Kim thought getting Hoff
02:06as a partner was quite a coup, but then quickly realized it was a mistake."
02:10Johnson was also on the receiving end of a tantrum when Family Matters star Jaleel White
02:14was her celebrity partner in 2012. An inside source told Us Weekly that after White stepped
02:18on Johnson's foot and she reacted,
02:20"[White got in her face. He was shouting at her, calling her an idiot.] When pro dancer
02:24Mark Ballas attempted to intervene, White turned on him, saying,
02:27"'You remind me of that annoying sitcom neighbor who gets in everyone's business.'"
02:31"'Why don't you ever knock?''
02:32"'Well, if I did, nobody would ever let me in.'"
02:36The insider claimed that producers and even fellow celeb Donald Driver all tried to step
02:40in, and eventually White was banned from the studio for the rest of the day to cool off.
02:44The report about White's bad behavior got so much attention that he later went on to
02:48explain to People,
02:49"'We go to work every day, and there is an alley full of tabloid reporters. I hope people
02:53can see through it. There's no drama in my life.'"
02:56Maxim Shmurkovsky was always one of the most outspoken pros on Dancing with the Stars,
03:00and he occasionally struggled to hide his displeasure with his more difficult partners.
03:04After he skipped a dance with Vanessa Lachey during Season 25 in 2017 due to a personal
03:09issue, sources told People it was actually a chemistry issue.
03:12According to our source, quote,
03:14"'Drama is expected and part of the show.'"
03:17One source went on to say,
03:18"'They both have big personalities, and that's not always the best recipe for a good partnership.'"
03:23But the star who really got under Max's skin was professional soccer player Hope Solo.
03:27Max did his best to hide his animosity toward Solo when she was his partner in 2011. He
03:32even dropped an F-bomb while defending her after one of Judge Carrie Ann Anaba's critiques
03:36rubbed him the wrong way.
03:37"'With all due respect, this is my show. You know, I help make it what it is.'"
03:41But in her 2012 autobiography Solo, A Memoir of Hope, the Olympian claimed all was not
03:45well behind the scenes. Solo alleged that Max slapped her face and manhandled her in
03:50rehearsal. She wrote,
03:51"'One day Max was trying to put me in a certain position and hit my stomach so hard with his
03:55open palm that I had a red handprint there for the rest of the day.'"
03:59TMZ later reported that sources close to Maxim denied the allegations. And as for Max himself,
04:04he shared his true feelings about Solo in a 2015 interview on the podcast Allegedly
04:09with Theo Vaughn and Matthew Kowalewicz.
04:11When Solo's name came up while playing f----- Mary Kill, Schmerkovsky said he would choose
04:14the latter for his ex-dance partner. He went on to elaborate,
04:17"'She's just a s----y person. She lied about a bunch of stuff. I had a very tough time
04:21dealing with that.'"
04:22"'We didn't have a good time on the show. It's been highly documented. I don't like
04:26her and that's the end of it.'"
04:28One negative aspect of being a professional dancer that viewers don't hear about is how
04:32the pressure to look good in those skimpy costumes can cause body image issues and trigger
04:36eating disorders.
04:37When Spy Kids star Alexa Pennevega competed on Dancing with the Stars in 2015, she opened
04:42up about her struggles with bulimia after movie producers told her to lose weight.
04:47Some of the show's pros have similar stories, but rather than share them on camera, they've
04:50instead turned to other outlets. In 2008, pro dancer Lacey Schwimmer told Access Hollywood
04:55that she developed anorexia when she was just 13 years old, at the beginning of her dancing
05:00career, saying,
05:01"'I was really, really scary thin.'"
05:03Pro Karina Smirnoff began competing when she was a toddler. She told OK! that trying to
05:07be in a certain weight class made her engage in unhealthy behaviors to lose weight when
05:11she turned pro as a teen. She recalled to the magazine,
05:13"'I didn't eat for two weeks and after that I was so nervous because I was about to do
05:18a competition and I had no energy and my body started reacting in a way that I hadn't experienced
05:23before.'"
05:24In 2008, Louis Van Amstel and Maxim Shmurkovsky didn't hold back while telling TV Guide what
05:29they thought about Cheryl Burke and Lacey Schwimmer gaining weight. Van Amstel came
05:33out and said,
05:34"'People look at this show to be inspired and think, if I just work hard enough, I can look
05:37like that. If they watch someone who's dancing her butt off and she's still heavy, they can
05:41be discouraged."
05:42As for Max, he recalled telling Burke and Schwimmer that they needed to pay attention
05:46to their weight gain and warned them that,
05:47"'The camera adds 10 pounds.'"
05:49Schwimmer later told Access Hollywood that Max assured her he'd been misquoted, but afterward,
05:54she began engaging in unhealthy behaviors in an attempt to lose weight. Luckily, it
05:58didn't last. In 2011, Schwimmer told In Touch that she was no longer letting anyone's body
06:02shaming get to her, saying,
06:04In an October 2020 YouTube video, Burke recounted how Dancing with the Stars producers made
06:10her and Max put on a united front after his comments grabbed headlines. The pros performed
06:15together on the show while Jessica Simpson sang live.
06:17"'Last time I apologized was to my grandma when she was dying.'"
06:23Max went up to my mom. He was like,
06:25"'I'm so sorry I said that about your daughter.'"
06:28Sharing the secrets of a show that producers don't want viewers to know could be a career
06:32killer for a Dancing with the Stars pro, but plenty of the show's celebs have spilled
06:36the tea about what goes on behind the scenes, even suggesting that some moments are fake.
06:40For example, outspoken talk show host Wendy Williams, paired with pro Tony Dovolani for
06:44Season 12, shared a big secret with Today, revealing that,
06:48When they put you in the room and you have to talk to the camera about your experience,
06:51they script what you say.
06:53Some contestants have also complained about misleading editing being used to manipulate
06:57viewers. In 2012, NFL legend and Season 3 winner Emmitt Smith told Esquire,
07:02The show's producers cut it to make it look like I was going after my competition, and
07:05they didn't even show the entire clip. That's the power of cutting and editing."
07:09"'Why would I get intimidated by an actor or an indie racer or a speed skater?"
07:17He and his partner Cheryl Burke would finish fourth during their All-Star season. In her
07:21book Solo, A Memoir of Hope, Hope Solo claimed that her partner Max wanted to cause some
07:25drama in hopes of preventing their alleged planned elimination. Former pro Chelsea Hightower
07:30also suggested that some dramatic moments are manufactured, telling the Sioux City Journal,
07:34After 19 seasons, people start to catch on as to what works and what they think the audience
07:39wants.
07:40America's longest-running soap opera might air on ABC, but the network probably wants
07:44to keep that type of drama out of the Dancing with the Stars ballroom. However, some of
07:48the show's pros have found themselves involved in real-life soap operas involving deception,
07:52infidelity, and jealousy. In November 2020, Elena Samodinova claimed her husband Dancing
07:57with the Stars pro, Gleb Savchenko, had cheated on her. She accused Savchenko of having a,
08:02quote, recent inappropriate relationship that was the final straw, telling People,
08:05After 14 years of marriage and multiple affairs, I've decided enough is enough."
08:10Savchenko's response made it evident that Samodinova believed he was having an affair
08:14with one of his celebrity partners on the show, Selling Sunset star Chrishell Staus.
08:18He released a statement that read,
08:19My relationship with Chrishell was, and remains, strictly platonic."
08:23Staus soon revealed that she was actually seeing another pro, Kiyomizuke, whom she later
08:27accused of lying to her in a series of posts on her Instagram story, and Savchenko was
08:31romantically linked to actor Cassie Skirbo in December 2020. Later that same month, though,
08:36he turned the tables on his ex, telling ET it was Samodinova who'd been unfaithful. He
08:40accused her of cheating on him with Vlad Kovartin, who has appeared on Dancing with the Stars
08:44as a troupe member. Savchenko claimed Samodinova was jealous of his career because he, quote,
08:49got the show and she didn't, when they both auditioned to be pros in 2013.
08:53Artem Chigvintsev and his fiancée, his one-time Dancing with the Stars partner Nikki Bella,
08:58might be one of the show's great love stories, but his ex-wife has painted a less-than-flattering
09:02picture of what he was like before he joined the show. The Russian-born dancer was once
09:05married to an American named Giselle Peacock, also a professional dancer. The couple divorced
09:10after just eight months, and Peacock believes Chigvintsev was just using her to get a green
09:14card. She said she supported him financially during their marriage and claimed that he
09:18was, quote,
09:19"...obsessed with fame, success, and money."
09:20But in 2020, the tables turned, and it wasn't Chigvintsev being blasted for a past relationship.
09:26In an interview with ET, he claimed judge Carrie Ann Inaba was giving him and celeb
09:30partner Kaitlyn Bristow low scores.
09:32It starts being a little personal, I feel like.
09:34It does!
09:35Fans piled on, believing his romantic past with Inaba had something to do with the low
09:39numbers. Before his divorce from Peacock was finalized in 2006, Chigvintsev began dating
09:44and their romance lasted until 2008. It was Chigvintsev's fiancée, Bella, who attempted
09:49to smooth things over between the exes after Inaba started getting hate online.
09:53Bella told Us Weekly that she set Chigvintsev straight and even convinced him to film an
09:57apology, recalling,
09:58"...I was like, and you've made it so personal. She's getting bullied."
10:02In an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Cheryl Burke listed a number of her Dancing
10:05with the Stars celebrity partners who've suffered injuries, claiming she's at least somewhat
10:09responsible for them.
10:10The rigorous competition can cause physical issues long after the confetti has been swept
10:14from the ballroom floor.
10:16Ray Lewis was my partner last season. First football player to ever get injured. My fault.
10:22Other Burke partners who've gotten hurt include Tom DeLay, who fractured both feet, and Cristian
10:27De La Fuente, who broke an arm.
10:29Basically, he had torn a tendon on live television.
10:32Clarkson teased,
10:33I don't think that you're the best person to promote yourself as a dance partner.
10:38No, probably not.
10:39The injuries celebs suffer on the show are so serious that they require surgery. Dirty
10:43Dancing star Jennifer Grey didn't just take home the Miraball trophy in 2011, she left
10:48with an extremely painful ruptured disc. But once the competition was over, she underwent
10:52a surgical procedure to repair it successfully.
10:55Comedian Bill Engvall also earned a few battle scars. The Blue Collar Comedy Tour star had
10:59to have knee replacement surgery after making it all the way to the Season 17 finale. In
11:03an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show, he made it known,
11:06I don't think people understand how brutal that show is.
11:11Derrick Hough became one of the show's most beloved pros, and his popularity helped him
11:14establish a successful entertainment career that took him far beyond the Dancing with
11:18the Stars ballroom. During his early days, however, he was hiding a secret. He doubted
11:22his abilities, and even said that he was faking it. On an episode of The Wind Down podcast,
11:27Hough confessed,
11:28I definitely look back at my approach to the show. In my earlier seasons, I was nervous
11:32and I was uncertain.
11:33I'm Derrick Hough, and I might not look as macho as the other dancers, but I'm deadly
11:37when I hit that dance floor.
11:38While he did his best to make it look like he knew what he was doing, Hough admitted
11:42he had never really taught or done much choreography at the time. Perhaps his lack of confidence
11:46is what caused him to suffer a slip-up that he later called the worst possible thing that
11:50could ever happen. And it happened in front of the world. Hough remembered the moment
11:54in an interview with Us Weekly, saying,
11:55I dropped my partner Jenny Garth on live television.
11:58In an interview with the School of Greatness podcast host, Lewis Howes, Hough admitted
12:02that being a winner on Dancing with the Stars didn't make him feel fulfilled early on. He
12:06said there were times he got terribly depressed after a season ended, and he confessed to
12:10being selfish by only focusing on his success. But the Emmy-winning choreographer faked it
12:14until he made it, and learned an important lesson. One of his most valuable talents is
12:18his ability to spread joy to others.
12:20Valshmirkovsky and Rumer Willis teased viewers with their adorable showmance when they paired
12:24up for Season 20 of Dancing with the Stars in 2015. And they kept viewers guessing about
12:29the status of their relationship all the way to the finale, where they emerged victorious.
12:33In a May 2015 interview with E! News, Shmirkovsky paid his fellow champ a compliment that made
12:38her giggle. He said,
12:39It's awesome, the fact that I can enjoy Rumer's aesthetically proportionate, beautiful physique.
12:43It's just a bonus.
12:44Rumor has it that the daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis became quite smitten with
12:48Shmirkovsky, but he eventually let her know he wasn't interested in her romantically.
12:52A show insider told Radar,
12:53Rumer has been upset lately because Val finally told her he won't ever date her. Willis reportedly
12:58got a tattoo to celebrate her and Shmirkovsky's victory, but after he broke her heart, she
13:02apparently couldn't bear to look at it anymore.
13:04In January 2018, a source told Page Six,
13:07Now she feels like a fool, so she's now undergoing this painful tattoo removal.
13:11Willis allegedly struggled to accept Shmirkovsky's relationship with his fellow pro dancer Jenna
13:15Johnson, whom he would marry in 2019. The pair now have a son together, but Willis didn't
13:20cut Shmirkovsky out of her life forever. In 2021, the former dance partners reunited for
13:25a Dancing Co. interview in which they took a look back at their past performances.
13:30Chelsea Hightower's tenure on Dancing with the Stars lasted from 2009 to 2013, and during
13:35that time, she was hiding a secret struggle from viewers. In an interview with Dance Spirit,
13:39the choreographer revealed she had terrible performance anxiety, as well as social anxiety.
13:44Anxiety became an unwanted part of her life when she was just a kid, and it cost her to
13:48feel like an outcast in the world of professional ballroom dancing. In an interview on the All-In
13:52podcast, Hightower recalled,
13:54"...knowing that I was struggling with something that I didn't see anybody else struggling
13:58with, nobody's talking about it."
13:59Hightower thought she'd conquered her anxiety after competing on So You Think You Can Dance,
14:04but unfortunately, dancing on another reality series in front of millions of people didn't
14:08just make her anxiety return, it exacerbated the problem. She admitted to Dance Spirit,
14:12"...when I moved to L.A. and began performing on Dancing with the Stars, it hit me really
14:16hard."
14:17In her interview on All-In, Hightower suggested that a difficult childhood contributed to
14:21what she was feeling, revealing that there were times when,
14:24"...my family didn't know whether or not we were going to be homeless or be able to survive."
14:27That kind of fear made being successful a real life-or-death matter. Going to therapy
14:32helped her understand and find ways to cope with her anxiety. She opened up to Dance Spirit,
14:36saying,
14:37"...I love therapy. It's helped me work through a lot, especially things that might trigger
14:40those thoughts and feelings."
14:42While Derek Hough always exuded confidence during his many seasons on Dancing with the
14:46Stars, there was a dark period in his life when bullies made him feel insecure and fearful,
14:52and it went even further than that when they threatened his life. In an appearance on The
14:54School of Greatness podcast, Hough revealed that he was just six years old when a group
14:58of bullies, who were also his neighbors, began tormenting him. Hough recalled,
15:02"...they would hang me up in a tree by my feet upside down, would spit on me, they'd
15:06put a gun to my head, tell me they were going to kill me."
15:08He also recalled how they would hogtie him and abandon him in a field. Dance proved to
15:12be a real lifesaver for Hough, and he would go on to exact the ultimate revenge on his
15:16bullies by becoming a massively successful choreographer, actor, and musician. He even
15:21teamed up with TikTok star Jax Wright Songs to record a funny duet about bullying.
15:26Hough also used his past experience to help the victims of bullies, giving them advice
15:29and hope while accepting the Inspiration Award at GLSEN's Respect Awards in 2014. In his
15:34inspirational acceptance speech, he said,
15:37"...let me tell you right now, you are not alone. Seeking help requires incredible strength
15:41and incredible courage. The most powerful weapon you have against bullying is your voice.
15:46If you are struggling with an eating disorder or know someone who is, help is available.
15:50Visit the National Eating Disorders Association website or contact NEDA's life helpline at
15:551-800-931-2237. You can also receive 24-7 crisis support via text. Send NEDA to 741741.
16:04That's N-E-D-A to 741741.