Brooke Lisa Burke was born on September 8, 1971, in Hartford, Connecticut, and was raised in Tucson, Arizona. She attended both Sahuaro High School and Palo Verde High School in Tucson, where she was crowned homecoming queen in 1989. She later studied broadcast journalism at UCLA before her modeling career took off at age 18. By the early 1990s, she was appearing in Frederick’s of Hollywood catalogs and building a name in the modeling industry.

Burke broke into television hosting in 1999 with E!’s travel series Wild On!, a role she held until 2002. She then co-hosted CBS’s Rock Star in 2005 and 2006, before competing on Dancing with the Stars in 2008. She won Season 7 with partner Derek Hough, then returned as a full-time co-host alongside Tom Bergeron. 

Brooke Burke has also hosted TV Land’s She’s Got the Look and co co-hosted the Miss America pageant on ABC. Since 2023, she has served as the host of Penn & Teller: Fool Us on The CW, entering its tenth season and continuing into Season 11 in 2024–2025. Beyond TV, she is a fitness entrepreneur who runs fitness and wellness businesses.