Cheryl Burke is happy in the skin she’s in, though it hasn’t always been that way.
Amid scrutiny over the Dancing with the Stars alum’s physical appearance, Cheryl pointed out that the way she looked has always been subject to public dialogue throughout her career—and it’s taken a toll.
“I do suffer from body dysmorphia,” she told Entertainment Tonight in a recent interview. “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.”
She continued, “In the height of my insecurity and my body dysmorphia was weekly fittings on the show. And I don’t blame the show by any means—it’s just the name of the game. We’re squeezing into these costumes, but it would affect me to the point where I would weigh myself constantly. I would travel with a scale—like that’s crazy.”
The 41-year-old spoke to how, having spent 20 years on Dancing with the Stars, the public had a front row seat to her changing body. But, as she noted, throughout such a long period of time, “People change, people evolve.”
Some of that work has been returning to a normal eating schedule, which she said had gotten turned on its head during her time on DWTS and being able to disengage from thinking about her appearance constantly.
“When it comes to being intentional,” Cheryl explained, “and now not having to be in front of a mirror every single day, do fittings every week, compare myself to maybe some other dancers, right? It’s been a great detox, and—no pun intended—but it has taken a lot of weight and pressure off me. I don’t even know who that girl is, in that sense, right? That constant self-hate, it was just not healthy.”
Some of that work has been returning to a normal eating schedule, which she said had gotten turned on its head during her time on DWTS and being able to disengage from thinking about her appearance constantly.
“When it comes to being intentional,” Cheryl explained, “and now not having to be in front of a mirror every single day, do fittings every week, compare myself to maybe some other dancers, right? It’s been a great detox, and—no pun intended—but it has taken a lot of weight and pressure off me. I don’t even know who that girl is, in that sense, right? That constant self-hate, it was just not healthy.”
And whereas she previously was dancing every day and staying physically healthy in that way, Cheryl has found a new relationship with working out in her years since leaving DWTS.
“Now I have to choose myself, I have to choose to be healthy,” she noted. “And it is something that I put as my number one priority, and maybe this is why I’m not dating—I’m really focusing on me and feeling good, first from within, and then whatever follows, follows.”
For more of Cheryl’s most honest moments, keep reading.
A Tough Break
Cheryl Burke admitted that her 2022 exit from Dancing With the Stars was “hands down” harder than her divorce from Matthew Lawrence, who she split with that same year.
“You can’t compare,” she shared in an April 2024 episode of Amy & T.J. podcast, explaining that the show was her “identity” at one point. “I credit them for giving me a voice in general.”
More Money, More Problems
Reflecting on her three-year marriage with the Boy Meets World actor, Cheryl believes her DWTS salary put a strain on their relationship.
“I learned that you can’t buy love,” she said on Amy & T.J. “Obviously, I didn’t buy my ex-husband, but I definitely would say I was the breadwinner. I supported us.”
Dance Like You Mean It
The dancer got candid about being the challenges of not being able to choose a DWTS partner as a pro dancer, sharing that “whoever walks in through that door, you don’t turn around and walk out.”
“This is showbiz,” she told Variety in 2023. “I’m an employee. You can’t just turn around and walk out and say I’m sorry. That’s not part of the contract. It’s a fine line.”
Too Hot to Foxtrot
Cheryl set the record straight on rumors that she hooked up with her Dancing With the Stars season eight partner Gilles Marini when they were training together in 2009.
“We had that thing without having that thing,” she said in an April 2024 episode of the Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans podcast. “Chemistry.”
Though Cheryl admitted that the two were “very close,” she said, “Nothing has ever happened physically between us.”
Open Book
Amid her divorce, Cheryl had a blunt message for critics who thought she was sharing too much about her personal life on social media.
“Don’t waste the time to comment because I do know for a fact that I’m helping at least one person,” she said in an E! News interview. “At the end of the day, those people I feel might need to take a note a little bit and really just understand that this is somebody’s story.”
Going Sober
Cheryl has been open about her sobriety journey, sharing that the 2018 death of her dad was what led her to abstain from alcohol.
“My father passed away—and my dad was an alcoholic—so either I was gonna crash and burn and check myself into rehab, or I was gonna just quit cold turkey,” she said in a 2020 episode of the LadyGang podcast. “That’s just my personality. It’s either black or white.”
Getting Vulnerable
And the Dance Moms coach isn’t afraid of showing her vulnerable side.
“To say that my sobriety has been easy would be a lie,” Cheryl said in a June 2021 YouTube video. “When I keep secrets or don’t tell my truth to everyone, including my followers, that’s when it gets scary for me.”
