‘DWTS’: Rob Kardashian Was Robbed of Mirrorball Trophy, Cheryl Burke Insists

Cheryl Burke believes that Rob Kardashian should have come in first during season 13 of 'Dancing With the Stars'

by Gina Ragusa

Published on September 12, 2023

2 min read

Rob Kardashian may not have been a Dancing with the Stars fan favorite, but he was a top partner for Cheryl Burke.

Burke said Kardashian and Jack Osborne topped the 25 celebrity dancing partners she had through the years on DWTS. She recently acknowledged that Kardashian certainly presented challenges, but that he should have gone further and even won DWTS. Kardashian and Burke ended up coming in second place.

“Listen, it was really hard for me initially to get his a** in the studio because he was so nervous,” Burke recalled on the Behind the Velvet Rope with David Yontef podcast.

“I’m not sure if he actually was like ‘I wanna do Dancing.’ Or if he was a little bit just shoved over to Dina Katz our casting director slash EP of the show,” she continued. “But you know, Kim Kardashian had done it already and she didn’t last very long. I think it was like week two or three with Mark Ballas. The goal was just to beat her and we came in second place. I actually think that we got robbed, no pun intended. But I definitely think that we should have won for sure.”

How far did Rob Kardashian make it on ‘DWTS’? Cheryl Burke thinks he deserved to win

Burke thinks Kardashian deserved the Mirrorball trophy. “I think he deserved it – I mean Rob,” she said on Behind the Velvet Rope with David Yontef . “Honestly this is why I love the show and it’s people like that, right? Someone who’s the underdog.”

She recounted the painful moment when the DWTS audience actually booed Kardashian. During the season, he insisted that his mother, Kris Kardashian “forced” him to do the show. And then trash-talked how quickly his sister was eliminated.

Needless to say, fans weren’t exactly rooting for him.

“I remember Rob and I came out for week one doing a Vietnamese Waltz and he got booed because, in our package, he came across like this spoiled kid,” she said. “You know, you can edit anything together. And literally, people were booing at him.”

“And you know, that’s another thing I learned too. It’s like we had, we have created a little fan base and people are protective over us. And when you don’t put in the work and you’re complaining about it, it doesn’t look good on the celebrity,” she added.

She saw a transformation in Rob during the ‘DWTS’ season

Burke said Kardashian transformed during the season. “Rob’s quickly … just something changed in him and I think, our bond got closer. But he started believing in himself and you know, he loved it,” she said. “I think what switched in his brain was like, just make fun of all the pro dancers. Like literally what do you think that they do when they shimmy or shake their boobs?”

“And that was our little inside joke and I just made it fun for him,” she said. “What’s been interesting throughout my last 26 seasons is figuring out how people communicate and trying to alter my teaching methods. Because you have to for people. Some people may learn visually, some people, you might have to talk to them in layman’s terms or whatever it is. But it’s that challenge. And then hopefully them being able to overcome the challenge, which is beautiful.”