The Real Reason Brooke Burke Is Divorcing David Charvet
For some reason, it seems like every remaining celebrity couple on the planet chose April 2018 to call it quits: Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan Tatum announced their separation. Kendra Wilkinson confirmed her long-rumored divorce from Hank Baskett. On the same day that the former Girls Next Door star announced her split, Brooke Burke-Charvet — a former Playboy Playmate who's better known as just Brooke Burke — and husband David Charvet — of Baywatch fame — filed for divorce with seemingly no warning signs at all.
According to TMZ, the divorce filing was initiated by Burke, who cited irreconcilable differences and listed the date of separation as Jan. 23, 2018. A source told People, "They've been separated for a couple of months and tried as hard as they could to make their marriage work, but at the end of the day they have to do what's right for them and their family."
Burke and Charvet generally flew under the radar, especially in the years since the stunner was let go from her hosting gig on Dancing with the Stars, but they always seemed so loved up every time they were seen together. After more than a decade of couplehood (seven years of which they were married) and parenting son Shaya and daughter Heaven together, what went wrong for this beautiful pair?
She may carry baggage from her first divorce
Brooke Burke already had one divorce under her belt when she and David Charvet wed. In 2005, she and plastic surgeon Garth Fisher (of Extreme Makeover fame) called it quits on their union after four years of marriage and seven years as a couple. "Although our careers have taken us in different directions the past few years, we have a great deal of respect for one another and remain committed to raising our two children together," Burke and Fisher told People in a statement. They share two daughters, Sierra Sky and Neriah (pictured) and co-parent the girls to this day.
Burke talked about her divorce with New You magazine (via the Daily Mail) in 2014. "I regret having a marriage that didn't work, because divorce is 'forever' for children. I regret that my two oldest daughters have to grow up knowing that sometimes a family falls apart. That's my heartbreaking life lesson. But I'm happy that they can see love now."
There was speculation she cheated with him and on him
Perhaps part of why Brooke Burke feels guilty about her first divorce from Garth Fisher is that her rumored infidelity is what caused the marriage to fail — and that infidelity is rumored to have been with David Charvet.
The couple confirmed to People in August 2006 that they were expecting a child and had gotten engaged, putting the timeline on all of that at roughly a year since Burke and Fisher's divorce announcement. People reported that Burke and Charvet began dating almost immediately after Burke and Fisher's split, making it unclear if the Baywatch hunk was a rebound or an "other man" in the situation.
That potentially faulty foundation may have led to the ultimate demise of this pretty pair's marriage. There was also suspicion of potential infidelity on Burke's part in May 2015, when X17Online caught her on camera appearing quite cozy with another man at an ATM. Photos captured the man hugging Burke from behind and nuzzling her neck, which is a bit beyond a platonic greeting. To date, that man has not been identified, and no one involved has commented on the incident.
Their fights were 'like the 4th of July'
During their marriage, Burke admitted that she and Charvet didn't always get along, even if they always seemed blissfully happy together. "We believe in romance. We hold hands. We cook together. We still make out," she told Health magazine (via People) in 2014. "We're very fiery passionate people, so when we fight, it's like the 4th of July!"
She added that she and Charvet hit it off years before they actually began dating, but that it didn't evolve into a romantic relationship until much later. "We met in Mexico, and it was the perfect example of right guy, wrong time because we had this beautiful affair, came back to L.A. and just stayed friends," she said. "If we had gotten together then, we wouldn't have made it. We had to grow up and then we found each other much later in life, and it was the right time."
Her firing had financial ramifications
During her marriage to David Charvet, Brooke Burke was the primary breadwinner, thanks to her Dancing with the Stars hosting job. That changed in March 2014, when she was replaced on the show by sportscaster Erin Andrews. As with any couple, the unexpected unemployment may have created stress on the marriage.
"The only shocking thing about it, for me, was the way in which it all went down," she wrote on her Modern Mom blog (via People). "Finding out that I would not be returning to the ballroom just weeks before the premiere was quite a shake up. I would have appreciated a heads-up and the courtesy of communication, but we are not always privileged to get that in the workplace ... I did my very best to describe to my children the reality of change and the need to maneuver through it with grace."
Thankfully, Burke kept cash flowing in to ease the burden of the DWTS exit with gigs such as hosting Chicken Soup for the Soul's Hidden Heroes and endorsement deals with Skechers, Poise, and other brands, as well as her fitness programs and app.
Charvet's Hollywood work hasn't been as consistent. Since he and Burke got together in 2006, the actor has starred in the direct-to-video film Green Flash (2008), the Lifetime TV movie The Perfect Teacher (2010), and the poorly rated Prisoners of the Sun (2013). He's also made a handful of reality TV appearances in both U.S. and French programming, which were all relatively short-lived. However, he likely makes decent money with his building and stonework businesses.
He was accused of being a chauvinist
When Brooke Burke was a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice in January 2017, her team lost a challenge because David Charvet refused to stop being macho for a photoshoot. Seriously. In a campaign about strong women, the team proposed that Charvet sit behind Burke on a motorcycle to demonstrate that women don't always have to take a backseat to men. It didn't work out, and he threw a tantrum. "In real life, would you be driving or would I be driving? Because I'm not having Arnold [Schwarzenegger] look at me like I'm some kind of wimp," he griped. "Are you out of your tree?"
Burke caved to her husband's insecurities, and her team lost the challenge as a result. She said in a confessional (via TooFab), "He's very macho and he's not the most cooperative guy." As it turned out, Schwarzenegger liked the team's original idea. "You could have just asked me to sit on the back of the bike, I would have been more than happy," he said. "I have no qualms about it."
Charvet doubled down when fans trolled him about his tirade. He reposted a fan comment on Instagram that read, "I can't even read this fembot crap anymore, how programmed are people? Men being men is now not only frowned upon, but engendered. It takes a STRONG WOMAN to be married to a STRONG MAN, and it absolutely disgusts me to see traditional couples shamed for it." Charvet added, "I will always support my wife."
She worked with his most famous ex
Pamela Anderson dated David Charvet for two years before co-starring with him on Baywatch in the 1990s. She regarded him as the "more than anybody, the love of [her] life" in an interview with People, though they were reportedly purely platonic once they began filming together. "In this business, it becomes very competitive when two actors are starting out," Anderson said of their split, and Charvet quipped, "We had a great romance, but now she talks to me about her boyfriends. People on the set think we're faking it but we aren't."
In a 2010 interview with Wendy Williams, the talk queen asked Brooke Burke, joined by Charvet, about working with Anderson on Dancing with the Stars, knowing the blonde bombshell had once romanced her husband. "It wasn't awkward for me — I'm always very considerate to the people that I'm working with, and I never wanted her to be uncomfortable," Burke said. "I didn't know how it would be when [Charvet] was on set, but I was okay ... I have to say, when we were standing up there, I was wondering what was going through his mind, like, 'Did you make the right choice?'"
"It was a little awkward for me," Charvet admitted. "By the way, I did [make the right choice]. I did."
Juggling work and family made date night a non-starter
On top of all of her jobs, Brooke Burke also has four kids — two with ex Garth Fisher and two with David Charvet — and that can make keeping the romance alive a bit tough, though she admitted that they at least tried to prioritize their marriage as well as their family time. "Three [children] was much easier. Four rocked my world because two of them are young enough that they absolutely need me at all times," she told People in 2009. "There is a lot of action, and it's a lot busier. We all help."
Charvet added, "It's very, very hard, because there is always somebody that needs something."
Burke replied, "Like, you know that date we wanted to go on? We're too tired. A lot of couples have date night — but they don't have four kids!"
In April 2014, Burke confessed to Health magazine that her life could be "chaotic," but she insisted, "I really know how to turn it all off. I know how to shut down my phone for family time. I can take a little time to myself to watch a sunset or have a cup of green tea and read a magazine."
They were accused of shady deals
On top of work commitments and working on their relationship, this pair also had to deal with a bizarre lawsuit accusing the couple of purchasing stolen kitchen appliances. What?
That's right, Radar Online reported that Zalfa Halaby, an employee at the high-end EuroConcepts store, was selling the shop's merchandise "through the backdoor" for half the price of retail. David Charvet allegedly wrote checks and paid cash directly to Halaby for $70,000 worth of merchandise that ended up being stolen from EuroConcepts.
These two weren't the only ones apparently ensnared in Halaby's alleged scam. The store sued 30 people for allegedly purchasing stolen goods from their shop. "Euroconcepts problem is not the 30 customers who paid for the merchandise that was actually delivered to them and paid for by those customers, including David Charvet, but Euroconcepts has an employee who allegedly stole money from them and has been arrested by the Beverly Hills Police Department," Charvet's attorney, Martin Singer, told Radar Online in 2010. Charvet added, "We have Bentleys in the garage. Why would we need to steal a stove and a refrigerator? That's such bulls**t."
Despite denying any wrongdoing, the couple eventually settled with EuroConcepts for an undisclosed sum in 2011, reported Radar Online.
Their living situation sounded like a nightmare
David Charvet and Brooke Burke's kitchen appliances weren't their only legal headache to stress them out during their marriage. They also had a longstanding beef with their neighbor, Bachelor creator Mike Fleiss.
In 2014, Charvet filed for a restraining order against Fleiss, reported TMZ, alleging that Fleiss pointed speakers at their home and played sounds of "barking, crying, and howling dogs at 3 AM, 5:45 AM, 6:30 AM, 11 AM, 9:30 PM and 11 PM." Charvet also alleged that Fleiss would rev his engine when he saw Charvet walking in an attempt to frighten him into believing Fleiss would run him over. He also accused Fleiss of repeatedly harassing him in other ways, including telling Charvet that he was the reason his wife was fired from Dancing with the Stars.
A judge shot down Charvet's request for a protective order, but TMZ later reported that Fleiss did get charged with disturbing the peace for all the noise he sent the couple's way, and insiders claimed he was uncooperative with police when they were investigating the incidents.
In March 2015, it was revealed that there were several complaints about Charvet and Burke's German shepherds wandering around their exclusive community, but sources close to Charvet insisted to TMZ that the only complaints against the family came from — you guessed it — Fleiss.
She needed to keep a 'loving family' somehow
Just days after news of their split hit the press, Burke broke her silence on her Modern Mom blog. "I have struggled with trying to find worthy words to speak to this life change my family is going through but I do want to share my personal thoughts. You may have heard that David and I are divorcing. We have tried to keep our separation private for some time out of respect for our children and family. Although I believe this is a positive change, I am deeply saddened because I loved being married," she wrote.
"It took me a long time to differentiate between giving up and letting go, and even longer to recognize when it was time to do so. We are still a family full of love, simply redefining our dynamics. I believe this is a necessary decision for my entire family unit," she continued. "Nothing scandalous will surface. Please believe that we are just finding new ways to remain a loving family." She concluded, "Big life decisions are hardest when made for the right reasons. It is sometimes painful to be strong and embrace change. I believe in letting go of ideas and dreams when the time is right. I am in that space right now as a woman and a mother, listening to my heart. I am approaching this with gratitude and unconditional love."
Well, that was fast
On Sept. 10, 2018, the Daily Mail ran photos of Brooke Burke chilling on a yacht in Miami with "a mystery man." The tab speculated that Burke and the unnamed gent "appeared to be on a double date with another couple," although there was no PDA to indicate a romantic connection.
Fast-forward one week to a People report featuring a photo of Burke planting a decidedly public smooch on a guy right out in the open in Malibu, Calif. Again, Burke's new suitor went unnamed, and it's unclear, as of this writing, if he's the same guy from the yacht. Regardless, Burke has clearly moved on from Charvet at this point, just five months post-divorce filing, and appears to be the first one to start playing the field.
That said, Charvet told Us Weekly in August 2018, that he and his ex were "all good," and that he was "not focused on dating," but rather, "on work and my children and making sure that everybody's good." We're not suggesting Burke isn't focused on those things as well, but she clearly had romance on her mind before Charvet did. Could she have been ready to move on long before he ever was?