Cheryl Burke Apologizes to DWTS Partner Ian Ziering for "Nasty" Past Comments

Cheryl Burke has publicly apologized for past comments regarding former Dancing With The Stars partner Ian Ziering.

Back in 2016, Burke described the Sharknado star as her "least favorite" celebrity partner on the ABC competition series, even going as far to say the experience "made me want to slit my wrists."

The TV host and ballroom pro first apologized for her comments on Twitter in 2016. Although in the first instance, she didn't apologize to Ziering directly, but rather expressed regret over her word choice.

Now in an episode of the Pretty Messed Up podcast, Burke addressed her past controversy head on.

"The one thing I truly regret and want to make amends with is Ian Ziering," Burke shared. "I was completely out of line a few years ago, and I did a podcast where they were asking me who my favorite partner was and who did I hate the most. And I answered Ian Ziering, and I said something along the lines of 'I'd rather slit my wrists than dance with Ian Ziering again.'"

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Burke first made the comments as a guest on the Allegedly podcast, where she shared her displeasure of working with Ziering, who served as her partner during the hit show in 2007.

At the time, Cheryl recalled "crying to executives" while asking if the pair could be prematurely eliminated from DWTS. They ultimately placed fourth.

Today, Cheryl wants Ian to know just how deeply the incident impacted her.

"I truly am so sorry for being so inconsiderate and just talking trying to get a reaction and putting him as my punching bag really," she shared. "I took it to that next level of nastiness. I was so nasty. And I'm here to publicly apologize to Ian and his family... I lost a lot of respect for myself. It haunts me till this day."

For his part, Ziering has remained mostly silent when it came to the comments surrounding his time on DWTS.