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From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n
Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nRead more<\/span><\/svg><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nCheryl Burke, a former professional dancer on Dancing With the Stars<\/em>, has hit back at the ongoing criticism about her appearance. <\/p>\nBurke previously spoke about the body shaming she endured after gaining weight during her 26 seasons on Dancing with the Stars <\/em>\u2014 including being told she was \u201ctoo fat\u201d for TV at age 21. Earlier this year, she revealed a 35-pound weight loss, which prompted a new wave of criticism. <\/p>\nNow, in a new interview published Wednesday in Us Weekly<\/em>, Burke, 41, set the record straight about her weight loss, denying claims she had excessive plastic surgery, underwent skin lightening, or used the popular weight loss drug, Ozempic. <\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m done being judged,\u201d she declared.<\/p>\n
Burke, who has \u201cnever gone under the knife to get anything done,\u201d credited her recent transformation with changing her eating habits. She no longer eats after 7 p.m. and told the publication that making that one shift \u201cchanged my whole body.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Cheryl Burke says never tried Ozempic months after revealing her weight loss (Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nIn addition to her eating habits, Burke is seven years sober, single, and celibate. She attributed the changes, both internal and external, to the transition away from the ballroom and into the next phase of her life. <\/p>\n
Part of that has meant stepping away from spray tans and tanning beds \u2014 staples from her 17 seasons on the ABC show \u2014 and allowing her natural skin to breathe. But even that has come with criticism from followers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThink about the mask I was wearing on the show, from head to toe. My skin color was 20 shades darker,\u201d she said. \u201cMaybe it\u2019s a shock to some people when they see my actual skin color, and no, I\u2019m not bleaching my skin, I\u2019m very proud to be Asian.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m learning to feel comfortable in my skin, my actual skin I was born with,\u201d she continued. \u201cThis is who I am and I feel great that I don\u2019t have layers of makeup on; this is just for me,\u201d she explained. \u201cMaybe in my chapter three, I may want to start tanning again and put on tons of makeup, but I\u2019m in this era of my life, and if you don\u2019t accept me, unfollow me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking back on the relentless criticism she\u2019s received between her weight loss and her decades on TV, Burke acknowledged that she can\u2019t control what others have to say about her. Previously, she felt like she needed to \u201cgain others\u2019 acceptance rather than find it within,\u201d so \u201csocial media bullying\u201d had a major effect on her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were days it got really bad, and I did get depressed because it\u2019s now on a whole other level of dehumanizing,\u201d she recalled. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t affect me as much as it did, and that has a lot to do with work I\u2019ve been doing with my therapist of close to 15 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been in the public eye since I was 21. My body has changed over the past 20 years. My face has changed. Because I\u2019ve changed,\u201d she continued. \u201cI\u2019ve healed, I\u2019ve lost, I\u2019ve grieved like anybody else. And yeah, maybe it shows but I\u2019m not sorry for it one bit.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more Cheryl Burke, a former professional dancer on Dancing With the Stars, has hit back at the ongoing criticism about her appearance. Burke previously spoke about the body shaming she endured after gaining weight during her 26 seasons on Dancing with the Stars \u2014 including being told she was \u201ctoo fat\u201d for TV at age 21. Earlier this year, she revealed a 35-pound weight loss, which prompted a new wave of criticism. Now, in a new interview published Wednesday in Us Weekly, Burke, 41, set the record straight about her weight loss, denying claims she had excessive plastic surgery, underwent skin lightening, or used the popular weight loss drug, Ozempic. \u201cI\u2019m done being judged,\u201d she declared. Burke, who has \u201cnever gone under the knife to get anything done,\u201d credited her recent transformation with changing her eating habits. She no longer eats after 7 p.m. and told the publication that making that one shift \u201cchanged my whole body.\u201d Cheryl Burke says never tried Ozempic months after revealing her weight loss (Getty Images) In add…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4404,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4403"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}