Dancing with the Stars: Is Cheryl Burke Fat?

Co-Stars Offer Up Criticisms, Start a Firestorm

Dancing with the Stars showcases the talents of a number of professional dancers each season, including 24-year old Cheryl Burke. Unfortunately, the buzz surrounding Burke of late isn't over her stellar dancing. Nope. It's all about five pounds that the talented artist has added to her frame, prompting some of her male co-stars to comment negatively on her more voluptuous figure.

Burke's fellow DWTS pros Louis Van Amstel and Maksim Chmerkovsky offered up a not-so-healthy dose of criticism, according to an article in the Post Chronicle. The men suggested that Burke lose the weight she'd gained over the summer, for fear that her gain would dissuade regular folks from taking up dancing for exercise.

Burke defended herself in an interview with People magazine (quoted in an ET Online article), claiming that she's never had a perfect body, but that over time she's grown to accept herself for who she is.

She should be proud of the woman she is. The California native has enjoyed tremendous success on DWTS. Burke has led two partners, boy-bander Drew Lachey (season two) and NFL star Emmitt Smith (season three), to the Mirrorball trophy. She and season four partner Ian Ziering of Beverly Hills, 90210 fame made it all the way to the semi-finals, and her season six pairing (Burke and actor Cristian de la Fuente) finished in third place. So it should be emminently clear that a lack of talent is a non-issue here.

It all comes down to body image, and what's acceptable according to social standards. I think the criticism levied against Burke is ridiculous. So what if she's not a stick-figure? She looks amazing this season. When she and season seven partner Olympic gold medalist Maurice Greene performed their Samba a few weeks ago, I was green with envy over how good she looked in her outfit. Burke looks healthy. She looks strong. She doesn't look frail or weak or like she would be unable to withstand a stiff breeze blowing through the Dancing with the Stars studio. I can't say that about all of the professional dancers who grace the set each week.

And she is most certainly not fat.