Cheryl Burke and Chris Harrison set the record straight as to why she never became a leading role Bachelor.
In the latest episode The most dramatic podcast ever with Chris Harrisonformer Dancing with the stars Pro, 39, claimed she was told Harrison had interfered with her role on the ABC dating series.
“I heard you blocked it,” she told the 52-year-old TV host, who exits the franchise in June 2021. “Didn’t you?”
“No. They put that on me,” he replied. “Yeah, like I have that much power, like I have the power to decide who’s the bachelor [or] It’s a girl.”
Cheryl Burke attends the 2023 iHeartRadio Music Festival on September 22, 2023.
David Becker/Getty for iHeartRadio
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“No, I’m not kidding… I think they blamed you, absolutely,” she added.
ABC did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
After discussing Burke being five years sober, she added that executives allegedly told her she “didn’t make it to the bachelorette party because Chris Harrison said ‘you’re a messy drunk.’
“It’s so funny,” he replied, before describing how much he weighed in casting for the series.
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“They, in public, would never give me such power to decide who is a bachelor [or] He is a bachelor,” he explained. “I think [creator] Microphone [Fleiss] would ask me or you know, or someone would ask me like, ‘Hey, like, what do you think about Emily Maynard? How about Jason Mesnick or whatever?’ And I give my two cents.”
“There are a lot of bachelors and that’s why I know it’s not true,” he continued. “There are a lot of bachelors and bachelorettes and I’m not going to say anyone in particular that I didn’t mean [would be work]. Well, I’ll give you one, Sean Lowe, because he’s turned out to be a good friend and he’s great.”
Burke chimed in: “And he’s still married,” and Harrison added: “He’s our only success story. Hats off to Sean Lowe, really.”
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Cheryl Burke arrives at the Race To Erase 30th Anniversary Gala on June 2, 2023.
Steve Granitz/FilmMagic
Cheryl Burke wants to be a ‘girl’
Long before her three-year marriage to Matthew Lawrence ended in divorce, Burke was interested in sharing roses on a series of dates.
“My relationship history has not been great for the past few years, so if I have the chance, I will continue [The Bachelorette] I will,” Burke told PEOPLE in 2012. “I’m getting older, you know, so I’m interested in that.”
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“It would be fun to have a group of men around you and get to know someone,” she said. “I think it would be easier for me to meet someone if I dated someone who got along with other guys.”
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Source: HIS Education