Cheryl Burke 'Choosing To Not Date' As Part Of Sobriety Journey

Cheryl Burke is letting the world in on the progress of her sobriety journey!

Burke was once the first pro dancer to win twice consecutively on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars," but she has revealed that she was also a "functioning addict." Although that phase of her life is now over, she discussed her experience on a recent episode of Facebook Watch's "Red Table Talk" while also sharing more details about her sobriety journey.

The 38-year-old model told co-hosts Jada Pinkett Smith and Adrienne Banfield Norris of the numbing effects of alcohol that made people believe something was off whenever she was not drinking. In her words: 

"I used alcohol to numb. I'm an addict. I was a functioning addict. It was when I wasn't drinking that people were like, 'What's wrong with you?'"

Burke revealed that she has been sober for four years, but it has been challenging of late, given her public divorce from her former spouse Matthew Lawrence. She elaborated on the split, saying:

"It's not easy right now, especially during this divorce. It's waving at me. I didn't want this, My parents got divorced, and I would've loved to not have, so that wasn't the plan."

Although the American dancer is not proud of the situation, she is aware that there is a point where she needs to prioritize herself and her sobriety, taking it "one day at a time, one minute at a time."

She is also "choosing not to date" but only dating herself. Even so, she feels it is "easier said than done" as she tries to adjust to the difference between loneliness and being alone.

Four years of sobriety no doubt deserves a celebration, and Burke did just that using an 11-second TikTok video. The clip featured her posing in different jackets and sunshades over multiple visual transitions, set to Billie Eilish's award-winning song "Bad Guy."

She added a message to the video indicating the reason for her celebration while leaving emojis in the caption alongside hashtags, some of which included "#soberlife," "#onedayatatime," "#soberbirthday," and "#sobrietyrocks."

Prior to the celebration, the television host acknowledged in an episode of her "Burke in the Game" podcast how helpful it has been for her to publicize her sobriety struggles since "once you call it out, the shame goes away."

She explained at the time, "I'm really trying to call it out because that is the name of the game. I don't want to have to even have that discussion."

Burke believed it was essential to hold herself accountable, which she tried to do by sharing her experience with her listeners. Speaking of which, The Blast reported that she previously talked about her alcoholism challenges in October 2021 with Elizabeth Vargas on her "Heart of the Matter" podcast.

Despite being a functioning alcoholic, the brilliant dancer was able to progress in her professional life. She also lived a "very Olympic lifestyle" when she competed and before moving to L.A. for "DWTS."

At the time, she made several promises to herself, including never drinking alone, never drinking before 5 p.m., and no drinking on weekdays, among others. They all never worked as she was deep in the bottle.

Burke's alcoholism became so bad that she began drinking throughout the week, with her thoughts never getting in the way as she drank to numb herself and get through every day.

Burke seems to have new and different plans — away from dancing — which she elaborated on in an October episode of her podcast, disclosing her plans to leave "DWTS." The revelation came after she had her dance partner Sam Champion got eliminated from season 31 of the competition.

She mentioned that the season marked her last on the show and as a dancer, which was tough for her to quit as she had been a star for 26 seasons. Several talks previously arose about her wanting children, hence her decision to give up dancing. However, the "DWTS" champ had a far different reason, saying: 

"The reason is because I want to be OK with the uncertainty of what life is about to throw at me. Until I close a chapter, how do I expect another one to open?"

Even with this certainty, she did not wish to leave her "DWTS" family totally but hoped to either be a correspondent or host on the show.