Cheryl Burke wants you to know anorexia isn’t beautiful

There is something that I really don’t like about Cheryl Burke. I’m not sure if it’s her face or what. I’d like to sound deeper than that and say it’s her personality, but I don’t know a thing about it. Other than every photo agency has a couple hundred photos of her falling out of clubs drunk, and that’s about it.

Cheryl is one of the most successful professional dancers on Dancing with the Stars. Recently she’s been getting a lot of flak for having put on a few pounds, and she’s defended herself by pointing out that there’s more than one way to be beautiful.

When bloggers called out Cheryl Burke for putting on a few pounds, the Dancing with the Stars pro fought back. But what upset her most, she says, is the unhealthy body image issues promoted by such stories.

“I want kids or women out there to realize you don’t have to be anorexic to be beautiful,” the two-time Dancing champ tells PEOPLE exclusively. “There’s a lot of pressure living this Hollywood life. People expect to see you at a certain weight and when you gain a few pounds then all of a sudden it’s the talk of the week.”

Burke, 24, says she is secure with her looks–and she advises fans to be true to themselves. “People will always have an opinion about you, whether it’s good or it’s bad,” she says. “But most important is to have a secure feeling about yourself and know that you’re beautiful regardless of what people think of you.”

Burke, who owns her own dance studio in San Francisco, admits it’s taken years for her to learn to embrace her curves. “When I was younger, I wasn’t stick thin. I wasn’t tall. I don’t have long legs. I wasn’t naturally skinny,” she confesses. “As I grew older, I just became more comfortable in my own skin.

[From People]

Okay so I mostly hate Cheryl Burke less now. I never did any sports as a kid (my body is physically unable to connect with a ball in a useful fashion) but took a ton of dance classes instead, and spending hours a week in front of a full-length mirror with fifteen other girls can really give you body image issues. Dancing is a great way to stay in shape, but it also makes you hyper-aware of any flaws in your shape.

And Cheryl makes a good point when she mentions that she’s short. You can tell she’s naturally curvy, and even a relatively minor weight gain is going to show up. The point is to be healthy. Though if she wants to take off a few of those pounds and be healthy, spending less time partying it up might help too.

Here’s Cheryl Burke, who Fame describes as “ much curvier” hanging out at One on Sunset Blvd. with fellow dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy on September 30th. Images thanks to Fame.

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19 Responses to “Cheryl Burke wants you to know anorexia isn’t beautiful”

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  1. HS says:

    I think she’s a pretty girl.

  2. vdantev says:

    Pretty but dumb, so she’ll do quite well in entertainment until she gets too old, unless she has a real talent somewhere that’s still useful.

  3. jennifer says:

    If she doesn’t turn into a skeleton in the next while I will believe what she says and I will actually admire her a little bit. But if within the next few months we see her at Nicole Ritchie-pre-baby era weight, then yeah, just another “celeb” spewing crap to sound good. Make me proud, Cheryl!***

    ***I don’t actually care, I’m just saying… :mrgreen:

  4. jess says:

    while i dont care about her weight one way or another, how does she have any body fat with all the dancing and rehearsing?

  5. Mando says:

    Note to curvy, short girls: Don’t wear skinny jeans. EVER.

  6. anony says:

    Horrible haircut. It’s a mullet that wanted to be a pageboy.

  7. MomInNH says:

    I don’t mind what weight a person is, makes no difference to me, but does she really want to be photographed in a 1982 half shirt with her jelly roll hangin’ all out?? I mean seriously, dress appropriately for whatever weight you are… Don’t go out in public scaring children and animals with your fug hair, orange skin and WAY too tight jeans that do anything but flatter an hour glass figure.

  8. geronimo says:

    Ditto Jess. Seems quite chunky for a professional dancer. And not very toned.

  9. Debbie says:

    I had the same thought – the celebrity dancers talk about how much weight they lose from being on the show, but Cheryl has gained. She may not be huge, but she needs to tone up -everything shows in the skimpy outfits they have to wear.

  10. Baholicious says:

    That woman is as much a professional dancer as I am a Chinese acrobat. Which I’m not.

  11. jolie says:

    Cheryl…girl you look damn good…your hair cut I love…and don’t listen to what people say…that’s the problem with america and hollywood…they think skinny is beautiful…and it’s not…that’s why we have a lot of problems now with kids having self esteem issues…I commend you…you are a great dancer and you are very beautiful…don’t listen to the haters…they’re just jelous and wished they looked as good as you and definately danced as great as you do…You having two chapionship.. means a hell of alot… 😛

  12. prissa says:

    Why does that guy have a big sweat stain down the front of his shirt? Or did he spill a drink down his chest??? What’s going on there? I’m confused… 😕

  13. mandee says:

    mop head 😕

  14. lanette says:

    somebody tell me what is wrong with going to clubs? she is young, unmarried and it’s a free country.

    she is cute….and pretty cool.

  15. lanette says:

    another thing i noticed in this picture she is with someone she works with…when i am out w/folks from work all we talk about is work.

    i don’t see nothing wrong with her going out and her and maxim probably talked about work all night….

  16. lisa says:

    I think all you people are just jealous and insecure with your own bodies. And that is the problem with LA everyone judges everyone by there looks , all i can say is where are all your morals. Cheryl i love ya!!!!!

  17. gene says:

    Cheryl do’nt change any thing. i thank you are very sexy, i watch the show just to she you dance. my wife agree with with me, she has the same sexy shapes.

    gene

  18. Jackie Holmes says:

    This woman is fat? Where???

  19. Benogaz says:

    There is something about CHERYL BURKE I have never liked. WHY is she so popular? Several of the other pro’s, specially KYM JOHNSON, have a way better body than Cheryl and they look so much better dancing. But DWTS seems to prefer Cheryl, I prefer seeing Kym dance much more than Cheryl. There is also Edytha and Karina who have a great body and personalities but don’t seem to be appreciated. I feel like the show revolves around Cheryl and it should revolve around Kym and the other true beauties of the show.