Cheryl Burke Talks Sobriety Journey, Says Drinking Has 'Been on My Mind a Lot More Than Normal'

Mar. 15, 2025

Cheryl Burke.Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

Cheryl Burkeis opening up about some of the triggering moments while trying to maintain her sobriety.

“I don’t wanna say that I’ve been feeling like drinking again lately, but it’s definitely been on my mind a lot more than normal,” she said. “I talked to my therapist about it and I guess also because I haven’t been very active with the program and with taking that fourth step that I seem to be stuck on for like the longest time now, but I’m going to slowly get back into it.”

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The pro dancer said that it’s been helpful for her to “call it out” and go public with her sobriety struggles because “once you call it out, the shame goes away.”

“Thank you for listening and this podcast has been very helpful with any crazy emotions that go through my body,” Burke added.

“I was drinking because I was numbing — and we all know that that’s a scary place,” she said, adding, “It was survival mode constantly, seven days a week for me.”

Cheryl Burke.Kelsey McNeal/ABC via Getty

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Burke told Vargas that she never had a defining, single moment that made her quit drinking, but the “feeling of just emptiness, of feeling there’s no purpose,” was her own version of “crashing and burning.”

“I felt disgusting. There was nothing there,” the star said. “I had no identity.”

Seeing her father, who was also an alcoholic, on his deathbed with a glass of whiskey contributed to Burke’s decision to stop drinking, she said at the time. And when she began to have allergic reactions to alcohol, Burke quit for good.

“Obviously subconsciously something … it was my body rejecting all this poison after drowning with it for so many years,” Burke said. After taking a single shot of whiskey at her engagement party in 2018 and breaking out in hives, Burke decided to “quit that night,” she said.

If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, please contact the SAMHSA substance abuse helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.

source: people.com