TV Watch

Cheryl Burke to Dancing Fans: Let’s Make a Deal!

03/12/2009 at 12:00 AM EDT

Some would call it naked ambition.

But two-time Dancing with the Stars champ Cheryl Burke prefers looking at it as an incentive program -- one that gets fans to vote for her and her partner, French actor Gilles Marini.

“Every week we advance, he will lose one piece of clothing,” Burke says, giggling. "He’s the naked guy from the Sex and the City movie, and know he has a great body. So he can pull it off.”



The pair have already pulled off a feat after Monday's premiere: they are at the top of the leader board, scoring a 24 out of 30, after earning high marks from the judges for their cha cha.

Burke’s concern is that Marini, known for his "revealing" role as Samantha Jones’s neighbor, doesn’t have as big of a Stateside fan base as some of the other celebrities on the show.

Hence, the idea for the weekly strip tease.

Marini says he's game for the challenge.

“I will do whatever it takes,” he says. “Cheryl is the boss.” --Monica Rizzo

Kelsey McNeal/ABC