Why Fans Believe ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Wicked Night Elimination Was Spoiled
No trick, just a treat: Cheryl Burke is back in the ballroom.
The 41-year-old (fox)trotted gracefully back onto the Dancing With the Stars ballroom for season 34’s Halloween night in the Oct. 28 episode. The former dance pro—and two-time Mirrorball Trophy winner—served as a guest judge, marking her first appearance on the ABC series since her exit three years ago.
“I feel so great to be home again,” she told the ballroom. “Authenticity is what I would love to see from all of you. Technique. Dance as if this is your last dance.”
Cheryl, who dressed up in a Cleopatra-inspired costume for the spooky holiday, will offer feedback to the remaining celeb contestants Alix Earle, Robert Irwin, Elaine Hendrix, Danielle Fishel, Jen Affleck, Jordan Chiles, Dylan Efron, Andy Richter and Whitney Leavitt.
Whitney performed first, with Cheryl praising the reality star and partner Mark Ballas for their routine to “Brain Stew” by Green Day.
“Your choreography, Mark, amazing,” she told him, “the best I’ve ever seen.”
Cheryl had teased her return the week before the spooktacular episode.
“I’m beyond excited, I’m beyond grateful for this opportunity,” she said in an Oct. 21 TikTok video. “For any of the new fans, which there are a lot of, I am a former pro that has been on the show for 26 seasons. I started most likely when you were not even born.”
ABC
The dancer has appeared on and off on Dancing With the Stars since season two in 2006, when she and partner Drew Lachey won the Mirrorball Trophy. She went on to win the competition again the following season with retired NFL star Emmitt Smith.
“I’ve spent decades pouring my soul in that ballroom,” Cheryl said. “And honestly, to be invited back, not as a competitor but as someone who can hopefully share my knowledge, my experience and my love for the craft of ballroom dancing, it is truly such an honor. I don’t take this lightly what so ever.”
Since leaving Dancing With the Stars in 2022, Cheryl has kept busy focusing on her podcasts Burke in the Game and Sex, Lies and Spray Tans as well as her own wellness journey. The dance pro shared earlier this year that she has lost an estimated 30 to 35 pounds, leading her to debunk rumors about her looks.
Her Dancing With the Stars return follows a physical transformation. She recently debuted a new bob with bangs, and earlier this year, the dance pro shared that she lost an estimated 30 to 35 pounds. She later debunked rumors about her looks.
Instagram / Cheryl Burke
“Let’s just address the elephant in the comments section. I’m not on Ozempic,” Cheryl said in a TikTok video shared in May. “I’m not sick. I didn’t get a face transplant, and no, I didn’t get a brow lift.”
“Here’s the most disappointing part that really gets me,” she continued. “‘We miss the old Cheryl.’ ‘Suite Life of Zack & Cody Cheryl,’ back in 2006? ‘Dancing With the Stars season two,’ when I was 21 years old? Or the ‘three years ago Cheryl,’ where I was going through a divorce?”
The dancer, who finalized her divorce from Matthew Lawrence in 2022 after three years of marriage, added, “I hate to break it to you, but that Cheryl doesn’t exist anymore.”
@cherylburkeofficial The secret’s out! I’ll be joining @Dancing with the Stars #DWTS next week as a guest judge for Halloween Night! 👻 It’s been 3 years since my final dance and official retirement, and I still remember that night like it was yesterday. To return now, from the other side of the floor, is something I’ll never take for granted. This show has been my home for close to 20 years. The people, the energy, the stories told through movement—it’s where I found my voice long before I ever used it offstage. I’m beyond grateful to reconnect with so many people I spent close to two decades of my life with and can’t wait to meet this new generation of dancers and celebrities bringing their stories to life on that iconic floor. 🖤 See you Tuesday! #dwts #dancingwiththestars #creatorsearchinsights
In addition to her change in appearance—which also included a new bob hairstyle with bangs on Oct. 2—she’s also undergone a more personal inner transformation of self-growth.
Cheryl later shared her general thoughts on life transformations.
“There’s no manual on how to approach the next chapter of your life,” she said in a TikTok video shared in August. “When I started changing my mindset, letting it all pan out the way it should, surrendering in a way, but also being very intentional and aware of what was happening, that’s when I had a clear answer—OK, it’s time to move forward.”
Read on for secrets about Dancing With the Stars…
ABC/Paula Lobo
How Much Do the Celebrities Get Paid to Be on Dancing With the Stars?
Citing multiple sources, Variety reported in 2019 that Dancing With the Stars contestants make $125,000 for the rehearsal period and first two weeks of the show. If they progress beyond that point, the outlet continued, they earn more money each week. At the time, sources told the publication stars could earn a maximum of $295,000.
However, Bobby Bones said he made more than this when he won season 27 with Sharna Burgess in 2018.
“That show pays OK,” the radio personality said on a Sept. 2025 episode of Jason Tartick‘s podcast Trading Secrets. “Like, first episode, no money. Second episode, $10,000. I think it’s like, $10,000, $10,000, $20,000, $20,000. It ends up being $50,000 an episode if you last.”
Also receiving a base salary of around $110,000, Bones continued, “I ended up making close to $400,000 from that show.”
ABC has not publicly confirmed any of these figures.
Eric McCandless/ABC via Getty Images
What Do the Pros Get Paid on Dancing With the Stars?
Similarly, little has been shared publicly about how much the pros get paid. But as with the contestants, it seems like the longer they’re on the show, the more money they can make.
But even if a pro is eliminated in the first round, they’re not leaving the ballroom empty-handed.
“You’re guaranteed until a certain amount of weeks,” Jenna Johnson said on a June 2025 episode of Kelly Stafford and Hank Winchester‘s podcast The Morning After. “I think there’s different contracts though. I can’t speak for everybody.”
Disney/Eric McCandless
Do Pros Get Paid More If They Win Dancing With the Stars?
Apparently not.
While Johnson—who won season 26 with Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon, as well as season 33 with The Bachelor‘s Joey Graziadei—says the pros don’t get a larger paycheck if they take home what is now called the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy, she noted there’s still an incentive to make it to the finale (besides bragging rights, of course).
“If you make it all the way to the end, you’re getting paid the whole season, which is amazing, and you get a bonus on top of that for making it to the finale,” she explained on The Morning After. “If you win, it’s not like you win a $1 million and split it with your partner. You’re just getting a cute trophy together.”
Instagram / Dancing With the Stars
Do the Troupe Members Get Paid as Much as the Pros on Dancing With the Stars?
That doesn’t appear to be the case.
On a 2022 episode of Trading Secrets, Lindsay Arnold recalled how her salary was cut “more than in half” when she was demoted from pro to troupe member.
Eric McCandless/ABC via Getty Images
How Are Pros and Celebrities Paired Together on Dancing With the Stars?
The pros get little input when it comes to being matched with a celebrity.
“You get no say,” Lindsay said on a May 2025 episode of Maggie Sellers‘ Hot Smart Rich podcast. “It’s very much just, ‘Here’s your partner. Make it work.'”
In fact, Jenna said the pairing is often a secret until the last minute.
“They really want to keep it a secret until you meet them live,” Jenna said on The Morning After. “They want that genuine reaction. So I think people always think we know who we have and we’re keeping it a secret. Absolutely not. They do not tell us. They really don’t even want us to know the cast. It gets leaked a lot, but they want it very hush-hush until you walk in and meet your partner.”
As for what the Dancing With the Stars team looks for when making these matches?
“It’s based on height, build and personality and compatibility,” former showrunner Rob Wade told E! News in 2015. “We don’t pair people who aren’t going to get on. It’s too intense. It’s not like The Bachelor or something, we couldn’t do that. That would just be miserable experience for the celebrity, for us and the viewer. You don’t want to see two people who don’t like each other and, quite frankly, we have made that mistake pairing people up who didn’t get on so well.”
Disney/Eric McCandless
How Often Do the Pros and Celebrities Practice on Dancing With the Stars?
Put simply, a lot.
“Every day we have four-hour rehearsals,” Rylee Arnold, who was partnered with Olympic gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik on season 33, shared on a September 2024 episode of the Lightweights Podcast With Joe Vulpis. “It’s either 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. or 5:00 p.m to 9:00 p.m.”
But the work doesn’t stop once the rehearsal wraps. Rylee noted she might then meet with producers or the creative team, work on choreography or study dance videos.
“Literally my whole life is devoted to it,” she continued, “but it’s my passion and it’s what I love. So, it makes me so happy.”
Indeed, it’s a no-days-off kind of gig.
“We have our show day on Tuesday and then it’s Wednesday to Sunday, straight rehearsals,” Rylee added. “And then Monday we have camera blocking and then Tuesday’s show day again.”
Instagram / Emma Slater
Do the Pros Get to Pick the Songs Each Week for Their Dance With Their Celebrity Partner?
“Mostly yes,” Emma Slater and Britt Stewart revealed in a September 2025 Instagram video, “though it’s a collaboration with producers.”
Eric McCandless/Disney via Getty Images
What’s the Process Like for Making the Costumes for Dancing With the Stars?
If you thought the quickstep was fast, just wait until you hear about the pace of the costume department.
“We meet with the set and lighting designers, dancers and talent and create a story [for each pair],” costume designer Daniela Gschwendtner told TV Insider back in 2017. “Then we sketch out ideas. We have five days, max, to make all the outfits. That’s half a day per costume, not including all the rhinestones. The fitting and trimming we do later. We have about 20 people in our department and then we have a separate tailor shop. It’s a big enterprise.”
In fact, costume designer Steven Norman Lee said pairs usually try on their costumes for the first time just hours before showtime. And while the department “might use a pair of pants again for the boys,” he continued, everything is generally made custom each week.
As Gschwendtner added, “We do reuse things for group numbers or promo shoots, but not for the competition. We don’t reuse things unless there’s a specific reason to do so. We try to keep everybody fresh and new in something different every week, so it stays interesting.”
For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App
Leave a comment