Cheryl Burke pines for ‘sinigang’

First posted 07:20pm (Mla time) Feb 23, 2006
By Ruben V. Nepales
Inquirer

LOS ANGELES -- “I WISH I COULD HAVE sinigang right now,” Cheryl Burke told us as she and her partner Drew Lachey of 98 Degrees compete in the final week of the top-rated TV show, “Dancing with the Stars.”

Cheryl, daughter of Manila-born (and raised in San Jose, Nueva Ecija) Sherri Bautista Burke, and Drew are duking it out in dance numbers against wrestler Stacy Keibler and partner Tony Dovolani, and NFL great Jerry Rice and partner Anna Trebunskaya Thursday evening (today at noon in Manila).

“A huge thank you from the heart to my fellow Filipinos,” Cheryl told us in an e-mail interview. Filipinos, especially those in the US, have been avidly voting for her and Drew via phone and online polls and are expected to rally for the dancing couple. Thursday is the last chance for viewers to vote. “Yes, Drew is very much aware of the Filipinos’ support and is very grateful.

The winning pair will be announced in a special finale show on Sunday evening.

Cheryl said two Pinays inspired her to dance: “My mother, Sherri Bautista-Burke, dances and competes in ballroom dancing, amateur level, with my stepdad Dr. Bob Wolf. Regretfully, I didn’t get to meet my grandmother, Rosario Bautista, who passed away even before I was born. She was a high school Physical Education teacher in the 1950s and ’60s who brought beauty, grace and passion through dancing and inspired high school students in San Jose, Nueva Ecija. I believe I inherited her love for dancing.”