ABCThe cast of Dancing with the Star's 18th season hasn't even been announced yet, but there's already drama on the dance floor.
Fans are still buzzing about the shocking news that DWTS' longtime host Brooke Burke-Charvet was not asked to come back for the reality smash's upcoming season. Instead, Burke-Charvet has been replaced by sports reporter and former Dancing With the Stars champion Erin Andrews.
Now, professional dancer Cheryl Burke isspeaking out on all of the recent shake-ups in an exclusive interview with E! News, admitting that the changes have been pretty difficult to endure. The ballroom expert explained that she and many of the other pros look at Brooke as an irreplaceable member of the DWTS family. "It's like your brother or your sister leaving," Burke revealed. "It was hard for me to take it all in. It still is, a little bit."
Burke, who is known for always being a bubbly and positive dancing partner, is cautiously optimistic about ABC's drastic new shake-ups. "The changes could be great and I feel like the show may need a change, but at the end of the day, you know, these are my family members," the two-time DWTS champion said. "So it's really hard for people like me, who have been on the show since season two, to really deal with it."
Burke-Charvet took to social media on Feb. 21 to exclusively break the news of her firing. "Weird day….Shocking pre-season elimination #DWTS…ME. @TomBergeron didn't even read my name. I won't be returning to the show this season," the brunette beauty wrote, referring to Tom Bergeron, her co-host for the past seven seasons.
Early Monday morning, the recently booted Burke-Charvet stopped by Good Morning America to further clarify her feelings for the unexpected hosting shift. "The only shocking thing about it, really, is the way that it went down," she candidly explained. "Finding out just several weeks before the premiere was a little bit tough, but I'm good."
However, there seems to be one person who is really excited about all the new ballroom changes. Professional dancer Peta Murgatroyd is "best friends" with Andrews' sister, Kendra Andrews, and believes that the sports reporter will be a "great addition to the show."
"I think Brooke did an amazing job, but the show is going through such a revamp right now. They've gotten rid of the band, as well as Harold Wheeler, and they've replaced it with a small electric band," Murgatroyd explained. "But I think Erin is kind of like the girl next door. She's going to do like great sort of sit-down chitchat interviews. She's very relatable. She's very kind-hearted and she's done the competition as well, so she knows what it's all about."
Despite the last-minute changes, Brooke told GMA's co-hosts Robin Roberts and Lara Spencer that she will definitely be tuning in to tomorrow's revealing of the season 18 cast. "It really isn't about us as the hosts, it's about the casts," the mother of four explained. "We are only as good as our casts." Looking ahead, Burke-Charvet is ready to tackle the next phase in her life. "I'm excited about a new venture and diving into a new project and my fan base has been so supportive…a little bit angry…so I hope they're still going to tune in," she said. "I'm excited."