When Dancing with the Stars airs, celebrities who sign up to appear on the show almost expect to hear people mocking them.
This season, JoJo Siwa and Olivia Jade found plenty of people online mocking them for various reasons. However, it turns out that even the pros that sign on to teach the celebs dancing skills are not immune from online trolls.
Two pros from Dancing with the Stars Season 30 have spoken out about fans who go online just to insult people.
Witney Carson and Cheryl Burke Dancing with the Stars body shaming
Cheryl Burke has a podcast called Pretty Messed Up and she had her fellow Dancing with the Stars pro, Witney Carson, on to talk about the show.
WItney, who had a baby and missed Season 29, returned in Season 30 to team with The Miz for a fan favorite combination.
Cheryl made it to the finals with her partner Cody Rigsby.
The two began talking about Witney having a baby and then returning quickly to Dancing with the Stars.
“You’re my inspiration for having kids someday because I have body dysmorphia, obviously, just being in this business and being in the competition world — I’m a curvy girl,” Cheryl told Witney.
“I’m not a size zero and when I wear costumes and you’re on TV, it does add a few pounds and I get comments on a daily basis about my body and not in a good way and it’s hard for me not to take it in.”
That is when the two began to talk about how there are a lot of fans who come onto social media, or even send DMs to the pros, body shaming them.
“I can’t get off birth control because my body is so co-dependent on it and when I did [before], I retained 15 pounds of water weight and that was during a season [of the show],” Cheryl said.
She said that people would often make comments about her weight when she did so.
“I’m just so traumatized by all the attention, first of all, that I got from gaining all the weight,” Cheryl said.
Witney and Cheryl talk dealing with DWTS trolls
Witney Carson, who returned after having a baby, agreed with the comments.
“Have this thing where they feel like they can have full range of commenting on our bodies and it’s really hard,” Witney said, saying it is hard when so many people are judging their looks.
Cheryl said that she wants to ignore the comments, but it is hard, especially for someone who is so judgmental of herself.
“The last thing I want is for social media trolls to get in my head, but at the end of the day, it does and unfortunately until I find my own love and validity through myself, it’s not gonna go away,” Cheryl said.
Witney said she seems confident, but it isn’t as easy as it looks.
“I don’t have that confidence all the time, I definitely have to fake it ’til I make it,” Witney said, “I really try and be positive about my body.
“My little sister is 18 right now and she is going through it hardcore, like more than I ever experienced. So for me, I’m trying to be an example for younger women. If you just feel strong inside and healthy inside and that will exude and people will look at it that way.”
Dancing with the Stars is on hiatus. The reality competition series should return in late 2022.