Cheryl Burke

Cheryl Burke is an American professional dancer, television host, and model who gained widespread recognition through her long tenure on the ABC reality competition series Dancing with the Stars. Competing as a professional dancer across twenty-six seasons, she became the first female pro to win the competition and the first pro to achieve back-to-back victories. Beyond her work on the show, she has appeared on various television programs, taught dance, and undertaken business and media ventures.

Burke was born Stephanie Burke on May 3, 1984, in San Francisco, California. Her mother, Sherri, worked as a nurse and entrepreneur of Filipina descent, while her father, Stephen Louis Burke, was of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage. Following her parents' divorce during her infancy, her father relocated to Thailand, and her mother remarried, later launching a healthcare firm. In middle school, Burke legally changed her first name to Cheryl after experiencing bullying from a classmate with the same birth name. She went on to attend Menlo-Atherton High School. In competitive ballroom dancing, she secured several titles, including the 2005 San Francisco Latin Championship, the 2005 World Cup Professional Rising Star Latin Championship, and the 2005 Ohio Star Ball Rising Star Latin Championship, alongside placing fourth in the United States in the under-21 category.

Burke joined Dancing with the Stars during its second season, winning the title with partner Drew Lachey. She secured her second consecutive championship the following season with retired football player Emmitt Smith. Over her two decades with the franchise, she competed alongside numerous celebrity partners, reaching the finals with contestants such as Cristián de la Fuente, Gilles Marini, Rob Kardashian, William Levy, Jack Osbourne, and Cody Rigsby. She also headlined multiple nationwide live tours associated with the show between 2006 and 2008. After taking periodic breaks from the series, Burke retired as a professional dancer on the show following the season 31 finale in November 2022, later returning as a guest judge during season 34 in October 2025.

Outside of her primary franchise, Burke finished in second place on NBC's competition series I Can Do That in 2015. In 2017, she replaced Abby Lee Miller as the lead dance instructor on Dance Moms, guiding the competition team known as The Irreplaceable's. Her other television projects include a guest acting appearance on The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, a dining appearance on Hell's Kitchen, and participating in the celebrity edition of Worst Cooks in America in 2025, where she earned funds for the mental health charity Better You. She also co-choreographed a paso doble sequence for Toy Story 3 and released a Latin dance fitness video.

Burke opened a dance studio in April 2008 and launched an activewear line the next year, while participating in promotional campaigns for brands such as Depend Silhouette, Impress Nails, and Sargento Cheese. Her accolades include a 2006 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography, a 2007 Role Model Award from the Filipino/American Library, and the Viewer's Choice Favorite TV Personality award at the 2008 Asian Excellence Awards. In 2011, she published her autobiography, Dancing Lessons. Burke married actor Matthew Lawrence in May 2019; she filed for divorce in February 2022, and the separation was finalized later that year.