Burgess was born in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia to Ray and Lucy Burgess.[2][3] Growing up, she was involved in several sports and different styles of dance. At the age of five, she began training in ballet, jazz and gymnastics. When she turned eight, her study of ballroom began, and she went on to win many local and national titles. At age 15, she was chosen to represent Australia at the World Championships in both the Standard and Latin styles, and performed in the 2000 Summer Olympics Closing Ceremonies.[4]
Career
At age 18, Burgess moved to London, where she collected numerous titles and appeared in a UK tour with the show, Simply Ballroom.[5] Post Simply Ballroom, choreographer Jason Gilkison gave her a spot on tour with Burn the Floor. She was in the cast for six years. Burgess was a member of the Burn the Floor cast when the show moved to Broadway.[6]
Burgess' first television appearances were on the Australian Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance in Belgium and the Netherlands. She joined the cast of season 13 of Dancing with the Stars as a troupe member.[7] While on the troupe, she also assisted So You Think You Can Dance choreographer Jason Gilkison on both the Australian and American versions of the show.[8] She remained on the troupe until the end of season 15. For season 16, Burgess was bumped to regular pro and was partnered with Andy Dick. She returned as a professional for season 17, this time partnered with retired NFL star Keyshawn Johnson. They were the first couple eliminated. For season 18, she was paired with Olympic ice dancer Charlie White. They were eliminated during week 9 (the semi-finals) and ended in 5th place despite raves from the judges and high scores throughout the season. Sharna was then confirmed for season 19 on 27 August.[9] For season 19, she paired with talk-show host Tavis Smiley. They were eliminated on week 2, finishing in 12th place.
For season 20, Burgess was paired with combat veteran and motivational speaker, Noah Galloway.[10] The pair made it to the finals and finished in third place. For season 21, she was paired with Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter.[11] The couple made it to the finals and ended in second place behind winners Bindi Irwin, and her partner Derek Hough. For season 22, she was paired with NFL player Antonio Brown. The couple made it to the semi-finals but were eliminated and finished in 4th place. For season 23, Burgess was partnered with race car driver James Hinchcliffe. Due to a knee injury from the previous week's dress rehearsal, Burgess had to sit out during week 8–9. Jenna Johnson substituted for her as Hinchcliffe's partner.[12] The couple made it to the finals, and finished in 2nd place behind winners Laurie Hernandez and her partner Valentin Chmerkovskiy.
For season 24, Burgess was partnered with professional bull rider Bonner Bolton. The couple were eliminated on week 8, and finished in fifth place. Burgess returned for season 25 and was paired with former NBA player, Derek Fisher. The couple were eliminated on week 4, and finished in eleventh place. For season 26, she was paired with NFL player Josh Norman. The pair made it to the finals, finishing in second place overall. For season 27, she was partnered with radio personality Bobby Bones.[13] Despite low scores from the judges, they were consistently saved by the viewers' votes and won the competition. On 2 February 2019, it was announced that Burgess was joining the Australian version of the reality dancing competition series as its sole female judge.[14] Burgess did not appear on season 28 of the American version.[15] She returned the following year for season 29 of the American version and was partnered with actor Jesse Metcalfe. The couple was eliminated in the fifth week of competition and finished in 12th place.[16] In Season 30, she returned with real life partner Brian Austin Green and finished 13th.[17]
In an interview with Access Hollywood, Burgess admitted she knew nothing of Dick's tumultuous past, due to the fact that she was living out of the country.[18]
Andy and Sharna continually received low scores and harsh criticisms from the judges. However, Burgess was praised for her work with him.[19]
1Score from guest judge Robin Roberts 2For this week only, as part of the "Partner Switch-Up", White did not perform with Sharna Burgess and instead performed with Peta Murgatroyd. 3Score from guest judge Julianne Hough. 4Score from guest judge Donny Osmond. 5Score from guest judge Redfoo. 6Scores from guest judge Ricky Martin. 7Score from guest judge Abby Lee Miller. 8Score from guest judge Kenny Ortega.
1 Score given by guest judge Zendaya. 2 For this week only, as part of "America's Switch Up", Brown performed with Karina Smirnoff instead of Burgess. Burgess performed with Nyle DiMarco. 3 Score given by guest judge Maksim Chmerkovskiy. 3 Due to Inaba being the judge coaching Brown's team during the team-up dance, the viewers scored the dance in her place with the averaged score being counted alongside the remaining judges.
1 Score given by guest judge Pitbull. 2Due to a knee injury, Burgess was unable to perform with Hinchcliffe, but did choreograph the dances. Hinchcliffe instead danced with Jenna Johnson. 3Score given by guest judge Idina Menzel
After her performance in the World Championships semi-finals, Burgess discovered she had a small tear in her knee ligament. Rather than take immediate action, she insisted on finishing the competition.
She dated choreographer and dancer Paul Kirkland from 2010 to 2015.[22]
She is currently engaged to Brian Austin Green. They met in 2020 after being set up by mutual friends.[23] In February 2022, they announced they were expecting their first child together. Their son was born on June 28, 2022.[24] On September 22, 2023, Burgess announced via Instagram that she and Green were engaged.[25][26][27]
On 6 October 2022, Burgess announced that she had become a United States citizen.[28]
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