‘Dancing with the Stars’ Cheryl Burke Once Believed She Was ‘Too Fat For TV’
Cheryl Burke was the longest-running female Dancing with the Stars pro. However, despite her longevity and success on the series, Burke once believed she was “too fat for TV.”
Cheryl Burke felt negative about her body as a ‘Dancing with the Stars’ pro
Throughout her Dancing with the Stars career, Cheryl Burke felt she looked different than her other female pros. She compared her body to others whom she believed were thinner.
During an appearance on the Amy & TJ Podcast, Burke admits she has body dysmorphia. She believes appearing on the show added to the negative feelings she already had about her body.
“As far as wearing one of the outfits, I would probably get on some, I don’t know, some sort of strict diet,” Burke said of the possibility of ever appearing on the series again.
“But that’s my body dysmorphia that I’ll forever have … I’m very open with that,” she continued. “I started when I was 21 years old and I went through this horrific like, ‘She’s too fat for TV.’”
“I was also growing into who I am as a woman, and with that, I did gain weight,” she concluded.
Cheryl Burke admitted she was ‘curvy’ in comparison to other dancers
Cheryl Burke joined the Dancing with the Stars cast in season 2, where she was the first female pro to win a mirrorball alongside Drew Lachey. She backed that up in season 3 with another win with partner Emmitt Smith.
However, Burke said it was in season 7 that she realized others had opinions about her weight. That was difficult for her to understand.
She told the Amy & TJ podcast, “I think it was just people like people that watch the show. I mean, you know, I did gain a few pounds during the hiatus.”
Burke continued, “Yes, I mean, naturally right like we do. But, like, I am curvy in comparison to a lot of the other professional women.”
However, the former pro said that it wasn’t an issue whenever she gained weight with those behind the scenes at the reality competition series. She was not body shamed, nor pressured to lose weight at any time during her 26-season run.
Despite being a fan favorite, Cheryl Burke wasn’t asked back for a Len Goodman tribute
Despite her success and longevity in Dancing with the Stars, Cheryl Burke believes her exclusion from the Len Goodman tribute upset her. Past and former dance pros joined together to perform a ballroom number dedicated to Goodman during the show’s “Most Memorable Year” episode in October 2023.
Burke believes her podcast, Sex, Lies, & Spray Tans, contributed to her not being asked to participate in the event. “I would assume that some people may not be happy with the podcast I have here with iHeart,” she explained.
She also no longer feels like she is part of the Dancing with the Stars family. “It’s so personal, and people can separate the two,” Burke explained.
“I’m like, ‘Are you a sociopath?’ Because I don’t get it. I don’t know how you do that. I don’t know how you separate it because, for me as an artist, dance is so vulnerable, like literally so vulnerable,” Burke concluded.
Dancing with the Stars is currently on hiatus. Cheryl Burke’s podcast Sex, Lies & Spray Tans airs can be found wherever you download podcasts.
