Cheryl Burke thinks her podcast kept her from the “Dancing With the Stars” tribute to Len Goodman

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"I would assume that some people may not be happy with my podcast," the former "DWTS" pro said.

Cheryl Burke is pretty sure she knows why she wasn't invited back to the ballroom to pay tribute to the late Len Goodman.

The former Dancing With the Stars pro opened up about being excluded from last season's memorial dance for the longtime head judge, stating that she thinks her DWTS behind-the-scenes podcast, Sex, Lies, & Spray Tans, is what kept her from receiving an invite. "I would assume that some people may not be happy with my podcast that I have here with iHeart," Burke told the Amy and T.J. Podcast. "Maybe it's the title."

Despite competing on 26 seasons of the ABC reality series, Burke was not part of the troupe of professional dancers who waltzed to "Moon River" in Goodman's honor last October. (Goodman died last April, at 78.)

Speaking to hosts Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes, Burke defended her podcast by saying that everyone who appears on DWTS has a story to tell — and she's more than happy to give them a platform to do so.

"I don't care if you're the first eliminated, or if you went all the way till the end, or if you had a bow-out due to, like Sarah Evans, like a divorce that she was going through," she said. "This show is something that is a special experience that you go through these different emotions, and I think it's important that we talk, and I think it's entertaining for the fans who have been sticking by their side for so many decades now, and it's just a great time. It's just like an hour long."

ABC declined to comment on Burke's remarks.

<p>Monica Schipper/Getty; McCandless via Getty</p> Cheryl Burke and Len Goodman

Monica Schipper/Getty; McCandless via Getty

Cheryl Burke and Len Goodman

While Burke acknowledged that the stories on her podcast are not "all glitter and rhinestones," she said that DWTS changes people, and her podcast offers a way for them to discuss what they took away from their experience.

"I think at the end of the day, everyone can say about this show [that] they took something away from the show and it made them into a better person somehow, whether that be them losing weight or them gaining confidence or whatever it is," she added. "And I always, I always am going back to the fact that I am in gratitude for my experience and my time with the network, and with, you know, Dancing With the Stars in general."

Burke also stated that she's "definitely not" part of the DWTS family anymore, adding that she finds it impossible to separate the personal and professional when it comes to dance. "It's so personal, and people can separate the two. I'm like, 'Are you a sociopath?' Because I don't get it. I don't know how you do that," she said. "I don't know how you separate it, because for me as an artist, dance is so vulnerable, you know, like literally so vulnerable, like Naked and Afraid."

Burke announced on social media last fall that she wouldn't be part of the Goodman tribute, writing, "For those of you asking if I'll be a part of Len Goodman's tribute next week on DWTS, unfortunately, I wasn't invited. However, I’ll be there in spirit and can’t wait to cheer my former colleagues on!"

She wasn't the only former pro who didn't get an invitation. Neither did Sharna Burgess, whose fiancé, Brian Austin Green, called the show out for excluding her. Burgess "wasn't even invited to sit in the stands and watch," Green wrote on Instagram. "Shame on that group of people. Kindness is an action, and so is love. @cherylburke should have been there as well."

Other ex-pros who did not participate in the tribute included Alec Mazo, Jonathan Roberts, Lacey Schwimmer, and Witney Carson.

Pros Val Chmerkovskiy and Jenna Johnson choreographed the waltz to "Moon River," which took place in the midst of the "Most Memorable Year" episode. Prior to Goodman's retirement at the end of season 31, he had served as head judge on Dancing With the Stars since its inception, only missing seasons 21 and 29.

All the current pro cast members participated in the tribute, as did a few returning ones, including Kym Herjavec, Anna Trebunskaya, Karina Smirnoff, Edyta Sliwinska, Tony Dovolani, Louis van Amstel, Maks Chmerkovskiy, and Mark Ballas.

Listen to Burke's full Amy and T.J. interview above.

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