Cheryl Burke may have left the Dancing with the Stars ballroom, but she is still involved in the drama. She started a new podcast, Sex, Lies and Spray Tans, which delves into the behind-the-scenes stories of DWTS. Cheryl has interviewed former contestants, as well as former pros.
Former pro Lacey Schwimmer stopped by on October 29, 2023. During their conversation, Cheryl mentioned a 2008 interview given by Maks Chmerkovskiy and former pro Louis van Amstel. In the controversial interview, they fat-shamed some female pros, stating that their weight would negatively affect viewers at home. Lacey’s experience on DWTS was greatly affected by these remarks.
“First, no one should ever, ever discredit somebody based off of their appearance. I don’t care if you’re skinny, fat, whatever. Ugly face, busted teeth — I don’t care what you look like,” Lacey stated. “It has nothing to do with your talent or ability of what you are hired to do. At the time, this was before women were able to speak freely and have this body positivity,” she added. Cheryl stated, “This sh– would not fly today.”
Maks publicly apologized, but Cheryl wasn’t done speaking out
Maks was a guest on the September 24 episode of Cheryl’s podcast. He apologized to Cheryl years ago for his comments. And he apologized again for fat-shaming her during the podcast.
After that, Maks apparently thought the issue was resolved until Cheryl brought it up again with Lacey. A source told The Messenger, “Maks apologized publicly to Cheryl on her podcast a few weeks ago. He was really taken aback by the fact Cheryl brought these comments up again after he already apologized to her.”
Of course, Cheryl and Lacey have every right to talk about body-shaming and what they experienced. It is their story to tell. And body shaming is never acceptable.
The Messenger reached out to both Louis and Maks’ reps for comment, but so far, nothing.
Dancing with the Stars continues on Tuesdays on ABC and Disney+.
TELL US – SINCE MAKS APOLOGIZED PUBLICLY, SHOULD CHERYL DROP THE TOPIC? ARE YOU LISTENING TO CHERYL’S PODCAST, SEX, LIES AND SPRAY TANS?
