Dancing With the Stars pro Cheryl Burke is blogging exclusively with Us Weekly about her quest to take home the season 25 mirrorball trophy with partner Terrell Owens! Check back each week for her latest update on the competition.
I had a feeling we were going to be eliminated but I’m glad we went out on a high note. I thought Terrell did an amazing job with the Charleston and the trio rumba. Len said that Terrell was the most improved celebrity of the season. That comment made us feel like we already won.
I told Terrell after our trio that I had a bad feeling about being eliminated, and he kind of had that feeling as well, so we were prepared for it.
Terrell nailed both of the dances but it’s still bittersweet; we felt like we had at least another week in us, but it is what it is. I think the Charleston was one of his best dances considering how fast it was, and learning the trio rumba was stressful throughout the week because of the height difference. Kelly is literally pocket-sized compared to Terrell.
Considering it was the first trio rumba in 25 seasons, I thought we did a great job and it was nice to be able to dance with my best friend. Terrell joked that he would ask Kelly on a date if we got all 10s, but I highly doubt that’s going to happen! That was just a little joke on the production side, but we all had so much fun together.
Terrell has been an amazing partner and improved so much this season. I couldn’t ask for anything more. We had a bumpy start in the beginning, and were on the bottom of the leaderboard, but he put in the work and it showed. I never thought we would make it as far as we did.
Terrell had a wall up in the beginning and I don’t think he realized his potential right away. As the show went on, he started seeing his competitive side and became more vulnerable.
For me, it’s more than just being the best dancer; it’s about changing people’s perceptions of somebody like Terrell. I think he was able to show people a different side to him that the world hadn’t seen before. I think people now see a different side to him, and for me, that’s already winning. For Most Memorable night, he was really able to open up and let his guard down. I think on the football field, you just see all his antics, but really you don’t know the real Terrell. That’s the beauty of Dancing With the Stars.
Terrell reminds me a lot of the athletes I’ve worked with before, but he also reminds me of Jack Osbourne or Rob Kardashian. People didn’t expect a lot from them and expected them to be a certain way, and none of them had prior dance experience. I love having partners like that, where I can change people’s perceptions of them. People assumed Terrell had a horrible attitude, and wasn’t going to change his ways, but he just started becoming more open to me and to the show, and I think that really impressed the judges. He was able to let his guard down and show America the real side of him. As soon as he was able to play certain characters around Week 3 and 4, he just kept getting better and better, and the audience could see that too.
Semifinals are this week and we are coming down to the end. I think the top three will be Jordan, Lindsay and Frankie. When it comes to Drew and Victoria, I think Drew’s fan base is huge, so I don’t know who is going to be the top four, but I think it’s going to be between them. Everyone left is so good and I think the winner will be determined by whoever has the best freestyle.
Unfortunately, I’m sick now, so I won’t be dancing in the show on Monday. We miss the show and rehearsals already, but Terrell and I still talk every day. We are both staying really busy with other projects.
I’m going to see him again in a few days because we start rehearsals for the finale. Terrell was an amazing partner and I definitely will keep in touch with him. We’ve developed a great relationship and friendship and I’ll always be there for him and vice versa.
Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.
