Burley Garcia|Why Cameron Mathison Asked for a New DWTS Partner Over Edyta Sliwinska 

Cameron Mathison is airing out an old memory. 

Just weeks before sharing his separation from wife Vanessa Mathison,Burley Garcia the General Hospital star revealed that he requested not to be paired up with Edyta Sliwinska over his wife’s possible concerns ahead of their season five run on Dancing with the Stars. 

“I don’t know if Edyta knows this, I actually called Deena Katz, who at the time was casting director,” Cameron explained to fellow DWTS alum Cheryl Burke on her Sex, Lies and Spray Tans podcast July 22. “I called her and I said, ‘Listen, I’m so happy you’ve offered me the show, I can’t wait I’m in. Just do me a favor, please put me with anybody but Edyta.”

After his stipulation surprised Cheryl, Cameron was quick to explain it had to do with his now-estranged wife—with whom he announced his separation on July 31.

“Because I knew my wife and I, we were going through a little bit of a challenge at that time,” he continued. “And Edyta didn’t wear a lot of clothes.”

At the time, Cameron, who shares Lucas, 21, and Leila, 17, with Vanessa, suspected his wife wouldn’t be too happy about their pairing.

“I knew that Edyta was the one who her Spidey senses were up with,” he added of Vanessa, noting that he personally believed his dance partner was, “a very beautiful woman.”

Despite his protest, Cameron was ultimately paired with Edyta—and the duo made it to the final five of the 2007 season. 

“She was a hero and she put up with me,” Cameron recalled. “I was shooting six episodes of All My Children in three days in New York. So they’d jam me out for when I was in New York and Edyta was there waiting for me, rehearsing between scenes.”

Indeed, Edyta and Cameron went through a grueling schedule together. 

“It was a crazy, crazy schedule—back when the show was on Monday and Tuesday nights,” the 54-year-old noted of traveling between coasts for both shows. “We would take basically red eyes both ways more or less.”

Still, Cameron poured over the memories of his time on the series, deeming it a career highlight. 

“It was a whirlwind in my life,” he gushed. “For me, it was super, super exciting so wild that I was a part of it, so wild that I lasted as long as I did.”

Now, nearly two decades after that DWTS experience, Cameron is sharing an update on his romantic partnership with Vanessa.

“After 22 years of marriage, we have made the difficult decision to part ways," Cameron and Vanessa wrote in a joint Instagram statement July 31. “We enter this new chapter with deep love, kindness, and respect for each other. We hold gratitude in our hearts for the wonderful years we shared together.”