Cheryl Burke wants to atone for her words. Well, her choice of words.
The Dancing With the Stars pro blasted former partner Ian Ziering in Matt Weiss and Theo Vonn's "Allegedly" podcast, saying he was her "least favorite partner" in 18 seasons of the show, among other negative comments. "The fact that his name is not EE-AN and it's EYE-AN makes me want to throw up," she said.
The podcast hosts said they didn't approve of his behavior on Celebrity Apprentice, describing him as "very intense" but "captivating," but Burke claimed spending 24/7 with a person like that became too much. "It made me want to slit my wrists," she said. "I was like crying to executives. I was like is there any way to please to just eliminate us? They're like we can't. We can't do that and I swear, every time I asked, we just kept going. We would last till the end."
But now Burke is apologizing, not for her thoughts on Ziering but instead for her strong comparisons.
"I've always lived by the rule that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. Recently and regrettably, I broke that rule. In the heat of an interview conversation, I used a phrase that seemingly makes light of suicide and I deeply regret it," she wrote in a lengthy Twitter post.
"I have many friends and family members that struggle with depression and thoughts of suicide. To have said something that seemingly makes a mockery of what they've gone through and what they live with is something that I apologize for," she continued. "I never meant to hurt anyone or to trivialize the topic. I was out of line and for that I apologize."
Listen to Cheryl's full interview when the podcast is released on iTunes Tuesday.