Fitness personality Brooke Burke has admitted she "would have had an affair" with her "Dancing With the Stars" partner Derek Hough during their time together on the show.
Burke, 52, was matched with the choreographer, 38, during the 2008 season of the dance competition series, and they went on to secure the Mirrorball Trophy that year, according to the Independent.
Burke is now reflecting on her experience on the show, discussing how her partnership with Hough has since evolved in an episode of the podcast, "Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans."
"Had I not been married ... I would have actually hoped we would have had a love affair," Brooke said.
When Brooke participated in "DWTS," she was married to David Charvet. However, she filed for divorce from the former "Baywatch" star in 2018.
During her appearance on the podcast, Burke explained why she ended up "crushing on Derek."
"You are intertwined with someone’s body when you’re 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. And it’s every single day. So for three months, you are in someone’s arms," she said.
"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," she continued.
"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?" Burke added.
Initially, Brooke and Hough had trouble connecting and "weren’t behaving like teammates." Brooke had become a mother three months before "DWTS," and Hough was tired from recording an album alongside the show.
"I was a woman and a mother. I felt like he was a young man. We just, we weren’t meeting each other in a place that was serving us," Brooke said. "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."
The choreographer who won an Emmy recently tied the knot with another "DWTS" professional, Hayley Erbert, in a California wedding ceremony.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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