‘DWTS’ Alum Sharna Burgess Looks Back on Previous ‘Rocky’ Partnership: ‘I Wasn’t Able to Be in the Room Alone with Him’

Sharna Burgess opens up about navigating a “difficult” relationship Dancing with the stars.

In the first episode of her new podcast Elderly — which she co-hosts with boyfriend Brian Austin Green and Randy Spelling — Burgess, 38, reflected on her journey after turning pro on the ABC dance competition in 2013.

“I think my victory with Bobby was the most explosive and controversial Dancing with the stars history and I got caught up in this vortex of hate because of that win which was really lame,” she said, referring to her Season 27 win with TV personality Bobby Bones.

Bobby Bones and Sharna Burgess. Eric McCandless/ABC via Getty Sharna Burgess Celebrates Brian Austin Green’s 50th Birthday: ‘My Person’

She admitted she was in “this space of self-blame” when she wasn’t invited back the following season. After working through her issues during the show’s hiatus, Burgess returned to the ballroom for season 29 and was partnered with actor Jesse Metcalfe until they were eliminated in week four of the competition.

“They brought me back the next season and I had a partner who was very difficult – and don’t say too much because I don’t want to,” she said. “I couldn’t be alone in a room with him after the first few weeks because of the things that happened.”

She added: “It was tough and we were eliminated very quickly.”

In a statement to PEOPLE, Metcalfe’s rep said, “There’s really no story here. Jesse is a gentleman and prefers to take the high road.”

Representatives for Burgess and ABC did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Sharna Burgess and Jesse Metcalfe on ‘Dancing with the Stars’.

Eric McCandless/ABC

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Elsewhere during the episode, Burgess reflected on inadvertently putting her relationship with Green in the spotlight when he was her partner in season 30. DWTS.

“The same executive producer who’s gone, I didn’t like what he did with the show,” she said. “Hearing from people around it, they were really trying to put the spotlight on our relationship. Not his neurological stuff, not his experience, not our working through this together, but almost our relationship was the problem with the dance in a way.”

Sharna Burgess and Brian Austin Green on ‘Dancing with the Stars’. Eric McCandless/ABC via Getty

She continued, “That’s when I texted someone and said, ‘Hey, this is not what we signed up for. If this is what you want for us, you just have to eliminate us because we can’t do it.’ And after that we were quickly eliminated.”

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Dancing with the stars season 32 premieres Tuesday, September 26 at 8:00 PM ET on ABC and will air on Disney+ and Hulu.

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Source: HIS Education