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DWTS Pro Sharna Burgess Defends Former Partner Nick Carter Amid Rape Allegations

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By Emily Surpless/

The dancer is standing beside the famous boy band member.

On Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, Sharna Burgess opened up about the recent allegations made against her former Dancing With the Stars partner, Nick Carter. Posting two videos on Twitter, Burgess wrote, "These are only my thoughts, this is not victim shaming, y'all know me and I would never. Just because I support Nick, doesn't mean I don't support female empowerment or #metoo. They are both movements that I am a part of, here for and proud of."

In the videos, the 32-year-old noted, "Nick was definitely one of the most respectful guys that I've ever danced with on the show. So understanding of the difference between the character and the dance, and then the coach and the dance, all the different levels of relationships that we have with our partners on the show."

"From day one, he was just incredibly sweet and understanding of what it was that we had to do," Burgess continued. "He was very accepting of me bossing him around every day. ... But what I loved about Nick, too, was that he always took ownership of the things that he'd been through — the darkness in his history, the mistakes that he'd made — he wanted to be very open about them and how he felt about them, even though they were very heavy and hard for him to even say out loud."

After describing how Carter would treat everyone fairly on the set of DWTS, Burgess, who said she adores her former partner, stated, "Not once did he ever speak to anybody badly, demand anything, become a diva, show anything ugly other than just absolute gratitude for being there, for having made it that far, and just a passion for working hard and trying to do better."

As Nicki Swift previously reported, former pop star Melissa Schuman, who sang in the girl group Dream, accused Carter of raping her in the early 2000s. Carter has since denied Schuman's claims.

"I am shocked and saddened by Ms. Schuman's accusations. Melissa never expressed to me while we were together or at any time since that anything we did was not consensual," Carter, 37, said in a statement. "This is the first that I am hearing about these accusations, nearly two decades later. It is contrary to my nature and everything I hold dear to intentionally cause someone discomfort or harm."

While we wait to see what comes of Schuman's claims, read up on the dark secrets that the Carter family tried to hide.

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