Brooke Burke recalls feeling tempted to have a ‘love affair’ with her former DWTS partner Derek Hough: ‘Dancing can be more intimate than making love in a bedroom’

Brooke Burke admitted she longed to have an affair with her former Dancing with the Stars partner, Derek Hough, while she was engaged to Baywatch star David Charvet.

Reflecting on her time competing for the coveted Mirrorball Trophy in 2008, the fitness guru, 52, revealed that her chemistry with the choreographer, 38, tempted her to cheat on her longtime partner, whom she eventually split from in 2018 after almost seven year divorced. of marriage.

While appearing on Cheryl Burke’s podcast Sex, lies and spray tansthe mother of four recalled that she thought Hough was “so young, green and safe.”

“I had no idea he would be such a powerful, badass choreographer,” Burke told listeners before dropping a surprising confession.

The TV personality went on to say that if she “hadn’t been married,” she “actually would have hoped” to have had a “love relationship” with the three-time Emmy Award winner.

‘You are intertwined with someone’s body if you are not a dancer. There is no way I have ever been more connected – other than to a lover or a husband – than I am with Derek,” Burke explained. ‘And that’s every day. So you’re in someone’s arms for three months.’

The actress continued, “Why do you think people fall in love? You smell them, you feel them, you breathe with them. It can be more intimate than making love in a bedroom; you make love on a dance floor, you feel more connected.’

‘If you have energy, you do this dance and you are in the rhythm, and then there is trust, then you share fear, you do something you have never done before. How often do you have an experience with someone where he is all you have?’ she asked.

Despite winning season seven of ABC’s long-running dance competition series, Burke revealed that she and Hough attended couples therapy after struggling to find their stride on the dance floor.

‘We had no connection. We weren’t gelling. We had problems,” she revealed. “(Derek) was exhausted, he was recording an album at night… I had a three-month-old baby. I was fried – up all night, training all day. As much as I love dancing, I have no professional training, so my body was exhausted. I was hormonal too.”

‘I was a wife and a mother. I felt like he was a young man,” Brooke added. “We didn’t meet at a place that served us. 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.”

At the time, she had just welcomed her youngest child, daughter Shaya Braven, who is now 12.

Looking back: While reflecting on her time competing for the coveted Mirrorball Trophy in 2008, the fitness guru, 52, revealed that her chemistry with the choreographer, 38, tempted her to cheat on her longtime partner, who she eventually split from in 2018 . married for almost seven years (photo in 2023)

Steamy: The TV personality went on to say that if she ‘hadn’t been married’, she would ‘actually have hoped’ to have had a ‘love relationship’ with the three-time Emmy Award winner

‘If you have energy, you do this dance and you are in the rhythm, and then there is trust, then you share fear, you do something you have never done before. How often do you have an experience with someone where he is all you have?’ she asked

Meanwhile, Hough, who is now a judge on DWTS and has earned the most Mirrorball trophies of any competitor, had only one previous season on the show and never won.

Due to his lack of experience, Burke said Hough was confident they had no chance of winning and was “really scared and unsure.”

She said they both had the mentality of staying “as long as possible.”

“I knew his young spirit. I knew he wasn’t fighting to win. I knew this was an opportunity for both of us; I was there to get to know America in a different way,” she said. “I think he was there because it was a great performance as a dancer, it was big for him. I don’t think people sign up to win the Mirrorball Trophy; it’s not even feasible. You don’t think it’s possible,” she admitted.

After their win, Burke said she felt like she was capable of “anything” and “it changed” her “whole life.”

A few years later, Brooke returned to DWTS as a cohost from season 10 to season 17.