Cheryl Burke begs fans to stop focusing on her appearance as she addresses body image struggles
Former 'Dancing with the Stars' professional Cheryl Burke says she wants people to stop focusing on her body.
Cheryl Burke wants people to stop focusing on her body.
The 41-year-old dancer - who is best known for having been a professional on 'Dancing with the Stars' - has "done so much work" on her mental health in recent years but feels "gaslit" when met with comments about her physical appearance even though she is aware that she "signed up" for that sort of thing by becoming famous.
She told 'Entertainment Tonight': "Let's talk about mental health, let's talk about what I've done as far as the last few years when I haven't been in the spotlight but I've done so much work on myself from the inside out. And I'm proud of that work. I wish the conversation was more geared towards that rather than 'She's on Ozempic, she got a whole face lift and everything about her has changed', gaslighting.
"If I were to say that it doesn't affect me, I would be lying but does it affect me as bad as it did when I was on the show? Not even close! It's interesting. I know I've signed up for it, I understand I've signed up for it, and I'm a public figure. I'm not trying to stop anything from happening but I'm just here hopefully to influence anyone who is in a similar position that there is more depth to a human being other than their outside physical appearance."
Cheryl - who was married to 'Boy Meets World' star Matthew Lawrence from 2019 until 2022 - has suffered from body dysmoprhia for most of her life, and admitted that it reached its peak when she had to undergo regular fittings during her time on the ABC dance competition and she became obsessed with her weight.
She said: "I do suffer from body dysmorphia, especially as a dancer in front of mirrors. Constantly. Since I was a little girl, and this was even before my 'Dancing with the Stars' career. My weight has always been an issue but I think what people sometimes don't understand is it is a lot of work, it takes a lot of work and self-care. The height of my insecurity and my body dysphoria was weekly fittings on the show. I don't blame the show by any means; it's just the name of the game, squeezing into these costumes. It is what it is. But it would affect me to the point where I would travel with a scale. That's crazy on a whole other level and I knew this could no longer continue. The number would affect my every day, and would dictate how I feel."
