Cheryl Burke isn’t dancing around the truth.
The 41-year-old recently opened up about the intimate part of life following her divorce from Matthew Lawrence in 2022.
“I need to heal still in that sense,” Burke told Us Weekly.
The pair first met in 2006 and began a romance that lasted two years. After going their separate ways, Burke and Lawrence, 45, reunited in 2017. They got engaged in 2018 and tied the knot a year later.
The former “Dancing With the Stars” pro said about being the breadwinner: “I learned that you can’t buy love.”
Now, being single has been a positive for Burke.
“I touch myself all the time,” she admitted. “It’s great. We are good to go. There’s no emotional baggage that comes with it.”
Last year, Burke opened up about her choice to be celibate.
The decision has led to “a lot more self-love and self-respect and self-worth,” she told Us at the time.
“I love that I’ve grown so much and that I’m doing it consciously and with an intention,” the podcast host shared, noting that other people act like she’s “speaking a different language” when she brings up her celibacy.
“I am on that Mya train,” Burke said, referring to the Grammy-winning singer, 45, who also revealed she had been celibate for seven years. “Go, Mya.”
As of now, the author isn’t looking to dive back into love.
“It will happen when it happens,” elaborated Burke. “When my energy shifts, then I know if it does happen, I’m ready. I’m not in a rush.”
The ballroom star filed for divorce from the “Boy Meets World” vet in February 2022 after nearly three years of marriage.
Lawrence is now in a relationship with TLC’s Chili.
In 2023, Burke explained just what led to the downfall of their marriage.
“There’s boundaries, right? Like, I have boundaries. All of that got kind of, I guess, foggy because I didn’t really know who I was as a person,” she told The Post at the time. “But I did know that even back then, that this just doesn’t feel right. It didn’t feel right. I knew that this wasn’t [right], whether it’s because of me evolving or him evolving or us evolving, but not together. It was important to, first of all, try, which we did.”
Burke claimed she and Lawrence “did it all” to make their relationship work.
“We did try. We were in therapy,” she detailed. “You know what? This isn’t what it was. And to walk away with no shame and to walk away with my head held up high was something that I’m proud of to this day. Because it’s not ever fun to say that you’re divorced in your thirties and I’m not the cookie-cutter social norm when it comes to married [with] kids and happily ever after.”
Burke added, “It’s just — that’s not my story and that’s okay. And I think being able to forgive myself and to just go with my gut and trust myself is a really big step for me.”
Lawrence, for his part, shared with Entertainment Tonight in 2023 that the divorce “tested” him.
“And I learned so much about myself, and I’m so thankful and blessed for the opportunity to grow and that’s what came out of it,” the actor told the outlet.
