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Cheryl Burke Claims Chris Harrison Barred Her From Becoming ‘The Bachelorette’: ‘You’re a Sloppy Drunk’
Cheryl Burke and Chris Harrison hashed out some past Bachelor drama on the latest episode of “The Most Dramatic Podcast Ever with Chris Harrison,” with Cheryl claiming that Chris “blocked” her from starring on The Bachelorette.
“No. They put that on me,” Chris, 52, corrected Cheryl, 39, during the episode, which aired on October 25. “Yeah, like I have that much power, like I have the power to decide who the Bachelor [or] Bachelorette is.”
According to the former Dancing With The Stars pro, executives told her, “[YOU] didn’t get to do The Bachelorette because Chris Harrison said that you’re a sloppy drunk.”
“No, I’m not kidding … I think they blamed it on you, absolutely,” Cheryl continued.
The former Bachelor host then admitted that he was able to “give my two cents” to the show’s creator Mike Fleiss and others but said, “They, in public, would never give me that kind of power to decide who the Bachelor [or] Bachelorette is.”
Cheryl previously married Boy Meets World alum Matthew Lawrence in 2019 and then announced their divorce in 2022. But before she tied the knot, she was vocal about her interest in starring in the series.
“My dating record hasn’t been great the past couple of years so if I have a chance to go on [The Bachelorette] I will,” she told People in a 2012 interview. “I’m getting old, you know, so it’s something of interest to me.”
“It would be fun to have a pool of guys around you and getting to know someone,” she added. “I think if I had people setting me up with different guys, I think it would be easier for me to meet someone to date.”
Cheryl’s comment about Chris calling her “a sloppy drunk” comes after she revealed in September 2020 that she was two years sober. At the time, she explained that she was inspired to quit drinking after getting engaged to Matthew, 43.
“It was just a decision that I made for myself,” she said on an episode of the “LadyGang” podcast on PodcastOne. “And it was when Matt and I got engaged and it was during that engagement party that we were just like — or that I was like, he didn’t even know — I was just like, I was done.”
Her father’s death was also a factor in her decision. “My father passed away — and then my dad was an alcoholic — so either I was gonna crash and burn and check myself into rehab or I was gonna just quit cold turkey,” she added. “That’s just my personality. It’s either black or white.”
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