Brooke Burke admitted to yearning to have an affair with her former Dancing with the Stars partner, Derek Hough, while engaged to Baywatch star David Charvet.
While reflecting on her time competing for the coveted Mirrorball Trophy back in 2008, the fitness guru, 52, revealed that her chemistry with the choreographer, 38, tempted her to cheat on her longtime partner, who she ultimately divorced in 2018 after nearly seven years of marriage.
While appearing on Cheryl Burke’s podcast Sex, Lies and Spray Tans, the mother-of-four recalled viewing Hough as ‘so young and green and safe.’
‘I had no idea he would be such a powerful, badass choreographer,’ Burke told listeners, before dropping a bombshell confession.
Off-the-Charts chemistry: Brooke Burke admitted to yearning to have an affair with her former Dancing with the Stars partner, Derek Hough, while engaged to Baywatch star David Charvet; seen in 2008
The TV personality proceeded to say that had she ‘not been married’ that she would’ve ‘actually hoped’ to ‘have had a love affair’ with the three-time Emmy Award winner.
‘You are intertwined with someone’s body when you’re not a dancer. There is no way that I have ever been so connected — besides with a lover or a husband — than I was with Derek,’ Burke explained. ‘And it’s every single day. So for three months, you are in someone’s arms.’
The actress continued: ‘Why do you think people fall in love? You smell them, you feel them, you’re breathing with them. It can be more intimate than making love in a bedroom — you’re making love on a dance floor, you feel more connected.’
‘If you have energy, you’re doing this dance and you’re in the rhythm, and then there’s trust, then you’re sharing fear, you’re doing something you’ve never done. How many times do you go through an experience with someone where they’re all you’ve got?’ she asked.
Despite winning season seven of ABC’s long-running dance competition series, Burke revealed she and Hough did couples therapy after struggling to find their stride on the dancefloor.
‘We weren’t connected. We weren’t gelling. We were having issues,’ she divulged. ‘[Derek] was exhausted, he was recording an album at night… I had a three-month-old baby. I was fried — up all night, training all day. As much as I love dance, I didn’t have any professional training, so my body was depleted. I was also hormonal.’
‘I was a woman and a mother. I felt like he was a young man,’ Brooke added. ‘We weren’t meeting each other in a place that was serving us. So we went to this life coach therapy session. And I was surprised that it never aired because I thought it was super real and super valuable.’
At the time, she had just welcomed her youngest child, daughter, Shaya Braven, who is now 12.
Looking back: While reflecting on her time competing for the coveted Mirrorball Trophy back in 2008, the fitness guru, 52, revealed that her chemistry with the choreographer, 38, tempted her to cheat on her longtime partner, who she ultimately divorced in 2018 after nearly seven years of marriage (pictured in 2023)
Steamy: The TV personality proceeded to say that had she ‘not been married’ that she would’ve ‘actually hoped’ to ‘have had a love affair’ with the three-time Emmy Award winner
‘If you have energy, you’re doing this dance and you’re in the rhythm, and then there’s trust, then you’re sharing fear, you’re doing something you’ve never done. How many times do you go through an experience with someone where they’re all you’ve got?’ she asked
Meanwhile, Hough, who is now a judge on DWTS and has earned the most Mirrorball trophies of any competitor, only had one prior season on the show and never won.
Due to his lack of experience, Burke said Hough felt confident that they had no chance of winning and was ‘really scared and insecure.’
She stated they both had the mindset of just sticking around ‘as long as’ they could.
‘I knew his young mind. I knew he wasn’t competing to win. I knew it was an opportunity for both of us — I was there to get to know America in a different way,’ she said. ‘I think he was there because it was a great gig as a dancer, it was big for him. I don’t think people sign up for to win the Mirrorball Trophy — it’s not even attainable. You don’t think it’s possible,’ she admitted.
Following their win, Burke said she felt she was capable of ‘anything’ and ‘it changed’ her ‘whole life.’
A few years later, Brooke returned to DWTS as a cohost from season 10 to season 17.
