Cheryl Burke Opens Up About Past Trauma, Childhood Abuse

Cheryl Burke from YouTube

Dancing With The Stars pro dancer Cheryl Burke is definitely having a difficult time right now. Amid her ongoing divorce from Matthew Lawrence, the dancer has also admitted she’s struggling with her sobriety at the moment. But that’s not where the hardship ends.

In a new podcast appearance, the 38-year-old dancer admitted that she suffered serious child abuse at the hands of older men. And sadly, that appears to have impacted many poor decisions she made as an adult. Read on to see what Cheryl had to say.

Cheryl Burke admits that past abuse influenced her romantic relationships

Cheryl Burke has always been honest about having a rough upbringing. Her biological father was never very present in her life. She also said that he was an alcoholic, which likely influenced her own alcohol addiction. Sadly, the dancer admits that her father’s role in her life also influenced her love life as an adult.

“I unconsciously fell into the pattern of falling for the same type of men which were abusive, non-available, non-committal, infidelity, all of that,” the dancer confessed on a recent episode of the Allison Interviews podcast. “I now, through the years of therapy, I have been able to understand why.”

Cheryl Burke from YouTube
Cheryl Burke/YouTube
Cheryl goes on to say that she developed these patterns through her father’s constant absence throughout her life. She was also sexually abused by an older male as a little girl.

“My definition of love was not real,” the 38-year-old continued. “To me, love equaled infidelity, love equaled being treated like s—, love equaled physical violence, love equaled mental abuse.”

Moving forward, Cheryl wants to completely retrain her brain so she can find a healthy, loving relationship. For now, she’s really focused on learning to love herself. But in the meantime, she says she’s looking to her mother’s relationship with her stepdad as an example of true love.

“With my stepdad, I [would] see her just being,” she said about their marriage. “Being in love does not mean the roller coaster ride of emotions. It is actually when everything is … underneath the wave, underneath it all. That is true love. The exciting emotional roller coaster, I’ve had it in every relationship, and clearly it doesn’t last.”

The professional dancer is taking time for herself right now

Cheryl Burke definitely isn’t giving up on love and previously stated that she wants to be in a relationship again someday. However, it seems like the dancer believes it’s in her best interests to focus on herself and her career right now.

Cheryl Burke from Dancing With The Stars
Cheryl Burke/Dancing With The Stars

Dancing With The Stars is coming to Disney+ starting on September 19 and fans hope Cheryl Burke will return to the stage this year. Hopefully, it will give her another project to focus on and more time to rediscover herself.

Check back for more news on Cheryl Burke and the rest of the DWTS cast!

Nikole Behrens
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