Sharna Burgess isn’t ruling out a return to the Dancing With the Stars ballroom despite cohost Julianne Hough’s recent remarks about her controversial win with Bobby Bones.
“If they did ask me, I think I would love to have one more season there with everyone as a way to button it up,” Burgess, 39, said on the Wednesday, October 9, episode of the “Between Us Moms” podcast. “Who knows where that would go if that opportunity came up. After 14 years on the show it doesn’t feel like it was a beautiful way for it to end after so much love and so much memory.”
Burgess was a pro on DWTS from seasons 16 to 27 before returning for seasons 29 and 30. She took home the Mirrorball Trophy with Bones, 44, during season 27 in 2018.
“It also sucks that of all the incredible seasons that I had, I’m remembered as the win that no one wanted it,” Burgess said. “And we say no one, right? People voted. The way we won was because enough people voted. So enough people wanted it.”
Burgess and Bones came in first after earning lower scores from the judges than their fellow finalists. Disney Channel actor Milo Mannheim came in second, with Harry Potter star Evanna Lynch in third and influencer Alexis Ren in fourth.
“But even Julianne was recently in an interview saying the win that never should have happened out of all 33 seasons was Bobby Bones,” she continued. “And I was like, ‘It just sucks.’”
Burgess noted that “it does hurt a little bit” because she wished she “could have left a good legacy, a beautiful legacy” on DWTS. “But it’s OK,” she added. “I’m rambling … I would totally go back to it to enjoy that with my family that’s there one more time and to button it up in a different way.”
During an August appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, Hough was asked by a viewer whether she had “strongly disagreed” with a previous DWTS winner. (Hough competed on DWTS from season 4 to 8 before returning as a judge from 2014 to 2017 and becoming cohost ahead of season 32.)
Hough thought about her answer while fellow guest Mickey Guyton weighed in. “Bobby Bones,” Guyton said, while Hough replied, “I actually agree with you. And I think it’s because of the fan base. It’s all about [the] fan base on that show. He was not the best dancer.”
While reflecting on her time with the dancing competition series on Wednesday’s podcast, Burgess got candid about facing “injustices.”
“I shared my personal opinions as a mother on how I felt about a particular contestant on the show that had been charged with child abuse of his 3 year old at the time,” she recalled, adding that she was “a year into motherhood” when she shared her thoughts about Adrian Peterson’s stint on the show. (Burgess and her husband, Brian Austin Green, welcomed son Zane in June 2022.)
She pointed to Maks Chmerkovskiy’s slamming former season 33 contestant Anna Delvey as a similar situation.
“But this season, Maks has shared very openly about how he felt about Anna and criticized the show and that she was there,” she said. “He’s still on set and having a great relationship with everyone at DWTS. But me sharing as a mother how I felt about a contestant that had beaten his child — relationship done.”
Chmerkovskiy, 44, said during a September appearance on the “TMZ Podcast” that Delvey was a “s—- dancer, and [her] personality is not really going to help her in this competition.”
Delvey’s casting on DWTS was controversial due to her past. Delvey was arrested in 2018 and remained in prison through her May 2019 sentencing, serving two years after being convicted on charges of grand larceny, second-degree larceny and theft of services. After paying $10,000 bail in October 2022, she was released from prison and placed on house arrest.
While discussing the double standard, Burgess said she’s unsure whether fans would welcome her back to DWTS.
“I have to look at it as though the universe said, ‘It’s time, it’s time and we’re gonna button this up for you and it’s time to move on and it’s time to do other things,’” Burgess said. “Because there is no rhyme or reason as to why it went so south when other people have said far worse things about the show and they’re still there.”
Burgess concluded that there’s “no bad blood.” She added, “There is no love lost, I do love the show. It’s not anyone there’s fault. It’s just how things turned out and the way things got received. I’m still good friends with everyone and still love watching them and cheering them on.”
Dancing With the Stars airs simultaneously on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET. Episodes are available to stream on Hulu and Disney+ the next day.
