Brooke Burke Recalls ‘Sensual’ Experience on DWTS with Derek Hough but Says ‘There Was Nothing Funny Going On’

Brooke Burke was just being “open and honest” when discussing her intense chemistry with Dancing with the stars partner Derek Hough.

Burke, 52, tells PEOPLE that she and her longtime friend Cheryl Burke “just started talking” when she appeared on an episode of Cheryl’s Sex, lies and spray tanning podcast earlier this month, and has “no regrets” admitting she was almost tempted to have an affair during their 2008 Mirrorball Trophy-winning partnership.

“I was talking about the intimacy between the celebrities and the professionals on the show,” she says. “It is almost, I would say, necessary if you want the audience to react to you. And it’s so vulnerable, it’s very romantic. It really felt like Derek and I were telling a love story on the dance floor.”

Still, she clarifies that she and Hough, now 38, had “boundaries.”

“I was married at the time and my husband sat in the audience at every show,” she says of her ex-husband David Charvet, from whom she split in 2018. “There was nothing funny going on — just to be clear — but I understand how it happens and why.”

“I just think that a relationship — whether it’s a friendship or a romantic relationship or whatever — it’s an experience that really connects you,” he adds.

Brooke Burke recalls ‘Intimate Experience’ at DWTS As She Clarifies Derek Hough Affair Comments (Exclusive)

On Cheryl’s podcast, Brooke said of her time with the professional dancer: “If I wasn’t married… I would actually hope we would have an affair.”

In reality, it was just a “crush,” she tells PEOPLE.

“It’s a confusion between sexual and sensual, exactly, as if we were adults. You can have an extremely sensual experience, a passionate experience — with boundaries — which I think is very healthy,” she says, expanding on her initial comments. “I think that’s a conversation that needs to be had. I think it’s very human. I think it’s very powerful. And I think that’s the beauty of the play.”

Brooke, who returned as host DWTS seven seasons after winning the show, he continues: “It’s very intimate. It’s a connection of emotions that most people may not even experience in their partnership.”

Brooke Burke and Derek Hough compete in the 2008 season finale of ‘Dancing with the Stars’.

Kelsey McNeal/Disney General entertainment content via Getty

Cheryl Burke says she ‘wasn’t invited’ to return to Len Goodman Tribute on Dancing with the stars

As he looks back on his time on the hit ABC show, he says it was “exciting” to experience all the “high highs” and “low lows” that came with it.

“The time commitment is incredible, and you know, it used to be three months, so you eat together, train together, choreograph together, think about it in your sleep, you compete. It’s a long emotion that I’ve never experienced before.”

Brooke, who is the new host of the CW Penn & Teller: Fool Usgoes so far as to say that the bond between a pro and their partner isn’t just something that naturally occurs during the show—it’s almost a requirement for success in the competition.

“I think anyone who says they don’t have an intimate relationship, you know, is probably not facing the reality of that show — or maybe they didn’t win.”

She adds, “You’re kind of out there in this together. Like, Derek and I were alone, and I think that connects you. I think it’s very intimate. And that’s what I was talking about.”

Brooke Burke and Derek Hough are the winners of ‘Dancing with the Stars’ 2008. Kelsey McNeal/ABC/Getty

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Of his current relationship with Hough — who came on as a judge during the 2020 season and has remained on the judging panel ever since — he says, “He’s like a little brother.”

Brooke notes that she didn’t address the dancer after her appearance on the podcast because “it’s not an issue.”

“It was just a relationship I’ll never forget,” she says.

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Source: HIS Education