Back in the Ballroom! Sharna Burgess Returns to Dancing With the Stars — and There’s a Twist!
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Sharna Burgess is coming back to the Dancing With the Stars ballroom! The pro dancer will be returning to Dancing With the Stars Australia as a judge for Season 21, marking her second season in a row on the Aussie show and her fourth season total.
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Burgess is originally from Australia, but she moved to the United States in 2011 to join the American version of DWTS as a troupe member. She was promoted to a pro in 2013 and remained on the show for 13 more seasons. She won her only Mirrorball Trophy in Season 27 with partner Bobby Bones, which was one of the most controversial wins in the show’s history, as Bones was not the best dancer.
In 2020, Burgess met her now-fiancé Brian Austin Green. The pair went on to compete in Season 30 of DWTS, becoming the first partners to enter the show as a couple. Two years later, they welcomed their son, Zane Walker Green. Burgess decided to take that season of DWTS off to spend time with her son, and when Season 32 rolled around, she was not asked to come back. She has not appeared on the show since and was even excluded from the Len Goodman tribute dance, which featured nearly every former pro.
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Burgess has since spoken out about DWTS‘ decision to not bring her back, revealing that it was a “huge shock” to her. “It just felt like I needed to sit in motherhood with Zane,” she said during a September 2023 episode of her and Green’s podcast Old-Ish. “It was always within the context of ‘I want to come back next year,’ and they said, ‘Of course, we love you. We’ll always have you.’ And I did drop in and let them know, ‘It goes without saying, but I’d love to be back next season, or this season. Hopefully I’ll get to come hang out with you guys.'”
Despite the disappointment she felt, Burgess claims she has “no beef” with the show. “I definitely do not have beef with the show or anyone on it. It’s all love,” she said on her Instagram Stories in June 2024. “Not being brought back last year does not eliminate over a decade of friendship and connection and memory. I think sometimes people forget that Instagram and media is but a fraction of our real world.”
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She added of the Len Goodman tribute snub: “I haven’t made a single comment publicly about the tribute because of a few reasons. Firstly… I know it’s not about me it’s about Len and the honor he deserved. Secondly… This hurt more than not being asked back and I’m working through it.”
DWTS Australia announced the judges for Season 21 on Instagram on July 3. Several of Burgess’ former co-stars liked the post, including Maks Chmerkovskiy, Sasha Farber and Daniella Karagach. She’ll be joined by returning judges Helen Richey, Mark Wilson and Craig Revel Horwood. Longtime judge Todd Mckenney will not be returning for Season 21, but it is unclear why.
Burgess previously served as a judge on DWTS Australia for seasons 16, 17 and 20. She’s also not the only cast member from the American show to crossover. Former pro Kym Johnson served as a judge for seasons 13-15, and Bruno Tonioli has appeared as a guest judge a handful of times.
Episodes of Dancing With the Stars can be streamed on Disney+.
Watch ‘Dancing With the Stars’ on Disney Plus
Learn about the families of your favorite Dancing With the Stars pros in the gallery below.
