Cheryl Burke calls out judges of 'Dancing With The Stars' insisting they should 'educate themselves'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'Dancing With The Stars' alum Cheryl Burke called out the show's judges, including Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and Derek Hough, over their expertise on the subject of ballroom dancing on the Wednesday, December 4 episode of her podcast 'Sex, Lies and Spray Tans', reported TooFab.
Burke has appeared on 26 seasons of the show before retiring in 2022. According to the veteran performer, the judges do not have the required expertise to deliver sharp and pertinent critiques of the performances and should attempt to better educate themselves.
Cheryl Burke feels 'DWTS' needs judges with 'more ballroom experience'
A fan asked Cheryl Burke on her podcast if she felt that the ABC show "should go back to being stricter as it pertains to true ballroom dancing," to which the dancer readily agreed.
"You have to know what you're talking about, right?" she said launching into an explanation. "They have to be able to back up whatever they say."
"If you're just saying things because you know it's the right terminology, and you can't explain yourself as to why it should be a certain way, then it's kind of hard - unless they get judges that have more ballroom experience than some of the current ones that are seated there as of last season."
"You can't really be more strict in a genre that you're not an expert in is my point," Burke continued. "And maybe that is why the show isn't as strictly ballroom as it used to be because you got the majority of your judging panel (who are) not experts in the niche of ballroom dancing."
Cheryl Burke suggests 'DWTS' judges to take the adjudicator's exam
Cheryl Burke stressed on the show's judge's being more educated on the subject and taking an adjudicator's exam to affirm their expertise.
According to the National Dance Council of America (NDCA), the purpose of the exam, which includes written and theory review portions, "is simply to assure that all of the Adjudicators of the NDCA, while having different ranges of careers and expertise, should all have a common baseline of knowledge in all styles and a clear knowledge of what responsibilities they have as an adjudicator."
"I think that, just like the pro dancers have to continue to educate themselves on their craft, I also feel like the judges should do the same," she said.
"Derek should take his adjudicator's exam. Carrie Ann should do it, so should Bruno. I think that's important, and why wouldn't you wanna do that? After all these years, if you weren't as familiar with the genre, why don't you familiarize yourself with it?"
"Or maybe they have, I don't know. I'm not them," she added.
Inaba is not trained in ballroom dancing, reported TooFab, while Hough is a professional Latin and ballroom dancer. Before becoming a judge on the show in 2020, he competed as a pro in the series and won six times with his celebrity partners. The third judge, Bruno, reportedly comes from a dancing and choreography background.
