What happened to Cheryl Burke? Health struggles explored as DWTS alum slams Ozempic speculation

Dancing with the Stars alum Cheryl Burke is a professional dancer who was the first female to win the popular dance show. She won DWTS not only once, but twice. Besides being a successful professional dancer, Burke is also a television host and model. The 41-year-old San Francisco-based dancer, Cheryl, who is currently a part of a controversy, has previously faced health issues.

When Cheryl's fans and the netizens speculated that she had plastic surgery and was on Ozempic, a drug that helps in weight loss, she took to TikTok to slam everyone who suggested that she had gotten a face transplant and addressed all the other speculations. Burke appeared in a TikTok video without makeup, which she posted on May 18, 2025, and in the video, she said:

"I’m not on Ozempic. I’m not sick. I didn’t get a face transplant, and no, I didn’t get a brow lift. The level of projection that is happening and that I’m witnessing is wild. "

While Burke explained herself in the video about how the various accusations made against her were cruel, she also mentioned that it was surprising for her to see that so many of them were women who accused her of untrue things. She continued and talked about how her body has changed over the years and touched upon her life experiences. Burke said,

"I have been in the public eye since I was 21 years old, my body has changed over the past 20 years, my face has changed because I’ve changed. I’ve experienced so much trauma, divorce, and this is by no means a pity party. Sobriety, burnout, reinvention, I’ve healed, I’ve lost, I’ve grieved like anybody else. And yeah, maybe it shows, but I’m not sorry for it, not one bit."

Despite fan speculation about her plastic surgery, Cheryl has mostly remained silent and hasn't commented on the matter. However, in a 2014 interview with TMZ, Burke said:

"I didn’t have plastic surgery, and I don’t have an eating disorder. I’m just actually happy.

Let's learn about Cheryl Burke's health struggles over the years

A TV host and Dancing with the Stars alum, Cheryl Burke, besides her success as a professional dancer and choreographer, had her fair share of struggles, which include both mental and physical struggles. In a 2023 interview with People, while Burke talked about her podcast Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans, she discussed her mental health battle and how she was dealing with it. Burke said,

"I think what is overwhelming — and I can just say this from experience — there's always light at the end of the tunnel, but there's no end date. We're always, I believe I am at least, a work in progress ‘til the day I die because there's always events happening in our lives, whether that's death or meeting new people or a change, a transformation, a transition. It's one little step at a time."

It was not only the mental health battle that Burke had to deal with, but she also struggled with body dysmorphia, which is also known as Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). Someone with body dysmorphia, which is a mental health condition, spends time worrying and wondering about flaws that are, most of the time, minor or not noticeable to other people.

Burke has been quite open about struggling with BDD and has also spoken about it on one of the episodes of The Amy and T.J. Podcast, which is hosted by Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes. Cheryl, besides her mental health issues and struggling with BDD, also had a history of alcohol abuse. Burke, who has been sober for several years now, has openly spoken about her sobriety. However, there was a time when she drank seven days a week, which she claimed on the Heart of the Matter podcast. Fortunately, things are no longer the same.