Former Dancing With the Stars pro Cheryl Burke has some notes for the reality show’s judging panel.
While answering fan questions during the Wednesday, December 4, episode of her “Sex, Lies and Spray Tans” podcast, Burke, 40, weighed in on whether the judges should hold contestants to “true ballroom dancing” standards the way they once did.
“Yes, [they should]. However, you have to know what you’re talking about, right? So, they have to be able to back up whatever they say,” she said. “If you’re just saying things because you know it’s the right terminology, and you can’t explain yourself as to why it should be a certain way, then it’s kind of hard. Unless they get judges that have more ballroom experience than some of the current ones that are seated there as of last season. You can’t really be more strict in a genre that you’re not an expert in, is my point.”
Burke, who danced as a pro on 26 seasons of DWTS before retiring after season 31 in 2022, claimed that the “majority” of the current judging panel — which consists of Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli — are “not experts in the niche of ballroom dancing.” She did, however, offer a solution to that problem.
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“Just like the pro dancers have to continue to educate themselves on their craft, I also feel like the judges should do the same,” she argued. “I also think Derek should take his adjudicator’s exam. Carrie Anne should do it, so should Bruno. I think that’s important, and why wouldn’t you wanna do that? After all these years, if you weren’t as familiar with the genre, why don’t you familiarize yourself with it? Or maybe they have, I don’t know. I’m not them.”
The National Dance Council of America administers adjudicator’s exams to qualify individuals to serve as judges in national dance competitions. It consists of a written exam and a theory review in all dance styles and levels. The purpose of the test is to ensure that judges “all have a common baseline of knowledge in all styles and a clear knowledge of what responsibilities they have as an adjudicator,” per the NDCA’s website.
Inaba, 56, and Tonioli, 69, have served as DWTS judges since the show premiered in 2005 while Hough, 39, joined the panel during season 29 in 2020 after dancing on the show as a pro for 17 seasons. Len Goodman, who died at age 78 in 2023, was another OG judge who retired after season 31 in 2022. Goodman was a professional ballroom dancer and considered the strictest DWTS judge during his tenure on the show.
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Current DWTS pro Gleb Savchenko exclusively told Us Weekly in September that Hough’s “technical” judging style “reminds [him] of Len a little bit.”
Hough subsequently told Us that while he’s flattered by the comparison, he doesn’t think he holds a candle to the late great judge.
“I wish I was as good as Len,” he said. “[He’s] absolutely irreplaceable. … His phrases and his ‘Lenisms’ were just iconic.”
Season 33 of DWTS wrapped up on November 26 with former Bachelor Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson taking home the Len Goodman Mirrorball trophy.
