Fans of Dancing With The Stars were shocked to see Sean Spicer last as long as he did during season 28. Pro-dancer Cheryl Burke claims it’s because the former press secretary is “not the Sean Spicer that [everyone thinks] he is.”
The former White House press secretary didn’t necessarily fit into the typical Dancing with the Stars mold. Despite his continuously low scores and personal struggle to find a rhythm, Spicer made it through nine weeks of competitive dancing originally working with Lindsay Arnold, who had to step away during the eighth week of competition due to a death in the family. That’s when Burke stepped in and got to know more about Spicer.
According to Burke’s Us Weekly blog posts about her journey during season 28, Burke expressed with pride that she can add to her resume “dancing with someone who is a Republican and someone who worked for the White House.” With Spicer’s political background, it seemed as though many people expected his personality to be formal and somewhat rigid, but Burke claims that’s not the case. She explained, “Even in just the little time I spent with him, he’s really funny. He’s super down to Earth.” The entertainment world is known for being heavily Democrat, but there’s no room for politics on the dance floor. In that same post, she discussed the connection many viewers seemed to make between Spicer and President Donald Trump. “Obviously there’s a lot of power in a tweet from Trump. People are like, ‘No no no,’ but people keep voting for [Spicer].”
Regardless of his political work, America continued to vote for Spicer, keeping him out of the bottom two for a majority of the competition. This puzzled the professional judges, who were taken aback by Spicer having beat out competitors like The Office alum Kate Flannery, who Burke conceded was “perfect,” and Sailor Brinkley Cook, who left in tears during the fourth elimination of the season. Burke claims Spicer’s “relatable journey” is what got people to vote for him for so long. “I love how much he’s [committed] to this. He’s not letting the haters get to him — and there are a lot of haters. Yet, he still has his head on straight and that’s very admirable to witness.”
Burke knew that as soon as Spicer fell into the bottom two, the judges would have their day. She wasn’t wrong - they chose to save Lauren Alaina. While many fans were relieved that a dancer with such low scores was finally removed from the race to the Mirror Ball, Burke believed he could have gone all the way. He left Dancing with the Stars with poise and grace, humbled for the opportunity to explore a side of himself that dancing opened up - a side many people didn’t know he had.
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Source: Us
