Brooke Burke Declines Dancing With the Stars Reunion: A Journey of Reflection and Growth
Brooke Burke, the former Dancing With the Stars host and champion, has decided not to return for the show’s 20th birthday special airing November 11. During a candid conversation on Jennie Garth’s “I Choose Me” podcast, Burke, now 54, revealed her reasons for declining the invitation. “A redo is hard for me,” she explained to Garth, herself a former contestant. “I guess there’s some things that are worth a repeat in your life, but I feel like I wrung it out and I did everything I needed to do on that show.” Despite the “amazing relationships” formed during her tenure both as a competitor and co-host, Burke believes that chapter of her life is complete. The show, once among television’s most-watched programs, would be difficult to revisit with “the same level of excitement and appreciation” she once had.
Burke’s history with Dancing With the Stars runs deep. She competed in season 7 alongside professional dancer Derek Hough, ultimately winning the coveted mirrorball trophy. Her success on the dance floor later translated into a hosting opportunity, where she shared duties with Tom Bergeron for eight seasons (10 through 17). During the podcast, Burke reflected on her time with the show with fondness and perspective: “I never say no, never closed doors professionally, but I mean, it was eight seasons, and I did everything I needed to do in the ballroom.” She acknowledged that while her DWTS experience was “one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my entire life,” it was also tremendously fulfilling and enjoyable. This balanced view suggests Burke has processed her time on the show and made peace with both its joys and challenges.
The circumstances of Burke’s 2014 departure from DWTS have only recently come to light through various interviews. In a 2024 appearance on “Getting Grilled With Curtis Stone,” she opened up about being let go from the show. While she admitted she was “ready to do other things” at that point, the manner of her exit was “disappointing” and unexpected. “I think it’s shocking when there’s a change in our business, just to humanize it, to be honest, to be vulnerable,” she shared. Burke revealed there were a “number of reasons on both sides” for her departure but emphasized the lack of communication as the most troubling aspect. In a blog post shortly after the news broke in 2014, she wrote, “The only shocking thing about it, for me, was the way in which it all went down,” explaining that she discovered she wouldn’t be returning “just weeks” before the season premiere. “I would have appreciated a heads-up and the courtesy of communication, but we are not always privileged to get that in the workplace.”
Perhaps one of the most poignant aspects of Burke’s exit story was explaining the situation to her children, who struggled to understand the nuances between being fired and being let go. When her son Shaya exclaimed, “You got fired, Mommy?!” Burke found herself carefully navigating the conversation. “I tried to explain the difference between being fired and being let go. Then he yelled, ‘You quit!’ I laughed at the fine line in it all,” she recalled. This moment became an opportunity for Burke to teach her children about handling change with dignity: “I did my very best to describe to my children the reality of change and the need to maneuver through it with grace.” As a mother of four children—Neriah, Sierra, Heaven, and Shaya—from previous relationships with Garth Fisher and David Charet, Burke transformed a professional disappointment into a valuable life lesson for her family.
Burke’s experience parallels that of other DWTS hosts who faced similar unexpected exits. Most notably, original host Tom Bergeron and his co-host Erin Andrews were abruptly removed in July 2020 after many seasons with the show. Bergeron announced the news himself on social media, writing, “Just informed @DancingABC will be continuing without me. It’s been an incredible 15-year run and the most unexpected gift of my career.” Later, in a 2023 podcast appearance, Bergeron suggested his departure was related to his desire to keep politics out of the ballroom, particularly regarding his vocal opposition to Sean Spicer’s casting on season 28. Unlike Burke, who maintains a respectful distance from the show while acknowledging its significance in her career, Bergeron has been more definitive about never returning, stating, “It’s not the same show. It’s not the same world. There’s no point.”
As Dancing With the Stars prepares to celebrate its 20th birthday with a special airing November 11 on ABC and Disney+, Burke’s absence will be notable but understandable to those who have followed her journey. Her decision reflects a healthy approach to career transitions and personal growth—acknowledging the value of past experiences while recognizing when it’s time to move forward. In declining the invitation, Burke demonstrates the same grace she tried to instill in her children during her departure: the ability to appreciate what was while embracing what is and what could be. Her story serves as a reminder that even in the glittering world of entertainment, genuine human emotions of disappointment, gratitude, and growth remain universal experiences that connect us all.
