Cheryl Burke Confronts Former Bachelorette Host Chris Harrison Over Claim He Called Her a "Sloppy Drunk"

Cheryl Burke and Chris Harrison are addressing some thorny allegations. 

Back in the day, the Dancing with the Stars alum almost two-stepped her way into a new role handing out roses as the Bachelorette on the ABC reality show. Her casting ultimately fell through, however, and she was told at the time it was because of the show's former host. Now, the 39-year-old is finding out what really happened. 

"So they told me that the reason that I didn't get to do the Bachelorette," she said to Chris during an Oct. 23 appearance on his podcast, Most Dramatic Podcast Ever, "is because Chris Harrison said you're a sloppy drunk."

But—having clarified earlier in the episode that Chris, who left the show in 2021, played no part in the decision—he laughed off the accusation. 

"That's so funny," he replied, adding of the dating show's creators, "They, in public, would never give me that kind of power, to decide who the Bachelor or Bachelorette is. Yeah Mike [Fleiss] would ask me, or you know somebody would ask like, ‘Hey, like, what do you think about Emily Maynard? What do you think about Jason Mesnick or whatever?' And I'd give my two cents."

He continued, "This is why I know it's not true, there's a lot of Bachelor and Bachelorettes—and I won't name anybody specific—that I didn't think, well actually I'll give you one. Sean Lowe, because he turned out to be a good friend and he's great."

To which Cheryl pointed out, "And he's still married."

Causing Chris to laugh, "He's our only success story. They really hang their hat on Sean Lowe."

E! News has reached out to ABC for comment but has not heard back. 

Cheryl, who noted during the podcast episode that she's been sober for five years, first opened up about her sobriety journey in 2020, revealing that it was the death of her father in 2018 that put her own life into context.

"My father passed away—and my dad was an alcoholic," she revealed during an appearance on the LadyGang podcast at the time. "So either I was gonna crash and burn and check myself into rehab or I was gonna just quit cold turkey. That's just my personality. It's either black or white."

A year later, the dancer shared that whenever she is struggling with her sobriety, it's the support from both her loved ones and her followers that encourages her to keep going. 

"To say that my sobriety has been easy would be a lie," she said in a June 2021 YouTube video. "When I keep secrets or don't tell my truth to everyone, including my followers, that's when it gets scary for me. So, thank you in advance for your encouraging words and love. It's a blessing to have a platform where I feel safe enough to let you all in on my story of this thing called life."

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