Cheryl Burke Apologizes to Ian Ziering After ‘Nasty’ ‘DWTS’ Feud

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Long-time Dancing With the Stars pro Cheryl Burke has opened up about her much-publicized beef with Beverly Hills, 90210 alum Ian Ziering, revealing that she personally apologized to the actor after comments she made on an old podcast.

Burke and Ziering were paired together on Season 4 of DWTS back in 2007, where they made it all the way to the final four before being eliminated. Despite their success on the show, Burke later said during a podcast appearance that Ziering was her “least favorite” partner and she “would rather slit my wrists” than dance with him again.

Speaking to The New York Post in a recent interview to promote her new podcast Sex, Lies and Spray Tans, Burke said she regretted her comments, revealing that she publicly and personally apologized to Ziering years later.

“I actually apologized to him. I sent an email like a couple of years ago when I did a YouTube,” she said. “I think it was during like right after the pandemic or toward the end of it. And I did. I just wanted to publicly apologize. But before I publicly apologized, I wanted to just to do it personally.”

Carol Kaelson / © ABC / Courtesy: Everett Collection

“And he responded,” she continued. “It was short and sweet, but I think there was a lot to discuss.”

Burke went on to say there were “no hard feelings” and that she is “a different woman than I was back in Season 4.”

“I’ve grown a lot, and I totally, you know, I’m taking accountability for my actions,” she shared. “And I know it was wrong what I said, and I didn’t mean any hard feelings then or now.”

Carol Kaelson / © ABC / Courtesy: Everett Collection

This isn’t the first time Burke has talked about her apology; she previously opened up about the situation to her Pretty Messed Up podcast co-host AJ McLean in April 2021.

“I was completely out of line a few years ago, and I did a podcast where they were asking me who my favorite partner was and who did I hate the most. And I answered, ‘Ian Ziering,’ and I said something along the lines of ‘I’d rather slit my wrists than dance with Ian Ziering again,’” she explained.

“I truly am so sorry for being so inconsiderate and just talking, trying to get a reaction, and putting him as my punching bag really,” she added. “I took it to that next level of nastiness. I was so nasty. And I’m here to publicly apologize to Ian and his family. I lost a lot of respect for myself. It haunts me till this day.”

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