Cheryl Burke has written a new blog at People. She catches us up from when we last saw her. She also talks of her goals with her new Dancing With The Stars partner Ryan Lochte. Be sure to read the link for more.
I’ve been paired with Olympian Ryan Lochte and I couldn’t be happier. I’ve worked with athletes like Chad Ochocinco and Emmitt Smith in the past and I’ve always been impressed by their work ethic – and Ryan is no different. He shows up on time, ready to work, takes constructive criticism well and wants to keep practicing until he’s perfect.
We don’t know what our first dance will be yet, so we’ve just been working on the fundamentals. Ryan doesn’t have any dance experience, so we are basically starting at zero – but I like that. He reminds me a lot of when I worked with Rob Kardashian. No one expected a lot from Rob, but we made it all the way to the finals because he was willing to put in the work. To me, how successful you are on DWTS has everything to do with work ethic.
The Olympics are over, so we luckily don’t have to balance our rehearsals with Ryan’s training schedule. But with everything going on in his life right now, there is a lot on his mind. I’m really glad that I can be there now as a distraction. The show has given him something else to focus on: getting ready to dance in front of millions of people. I think this opportunity came at the perfect time for him. He’s a competitor and loves competition and I think it’s great that he has a new goal to tackle. I can’t wait to get out there and help him become the best dancer he can be.