Cheryl Burke responds to body-shaming critics: ‘Stop comparing me to when I was 20’

Cheryl Burke says retirement, perimenopause and personal growth have changed her body, addressing criticism

Cheryl Burke has responded to criticism about her appearance, urging people to stop comparing her current look with how she looked in her twenties.

In a conversation for the Dory Jackson Interview Series, released on July 1, the former Dancing with the Stars professional reflected on the physical and emotional changes she has experienced since retiring from professional dancing.

Burke, 42, also addressed speculation that her transformation was linked to GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic.

"I was jacked, like my legs were — I was like a bodybuilder down there. When you're not pounding on your body, it's changing. Maybe not for the best, but it's just, that's life," she said.

Burke also encouraged critics to "stop comparing me to when I was 20," explaining that retirement from dancing and perimenopause have naturally changed her body.

She acknowledged that online criticism can still affect her but said it has become repetitive.

"It hasn't been too bad lately, but also there's going to come a point where it just gets old. People are going to say the same thing every time," she said.

Her latest comments follow a June essay in Glamour, where Burke recalled facing body-shaming after her 2006 debut on Dancing with the Stars.

"I remember turning on my TV one morning and seeing my name on the chyron: Is Cheryl too fat for TV? I will never forget that," she wrote, recalling that she was in her twenties when her body became the subject of public scrutiny.

Burke also challenged claims that she looked healthier during that period.

"What kills me now? Genuinely makes me furious? That people look back at photos of me from that era and say I looked so much healthier," she wrote, adding that she was drinking heavily and often hungover at the time.

She concluded that she would not want to return to that version of herself, despite ongoing comparisons online.