DWTS Star Louis van Amstel Denies Body-Shaming Comments Against Co-stars Lacey Schwimmer, Cheryl Burke from 2008 Interview
Van Amstel apologizes while insisting his 2008 statements were taken out of context but acknowledges the distress caused, Schwimmer partly blames DWTS' culture for body image issues, and Chmerkovskiy surprised by rehashed criticism after previous apology.
- Louise Van Amstel, Dancing With the Stars (DWTS) star, denies body-shaming his co-stars Lacey Schwimmer and Cheryl Burke during a TV Guide interview in 2008. He argues the quotes, which criticized the women for their weight, were taken out of context and he's since received an apology from the journalist who allegedly twisted his words.
- Despite denying the allegations, Van Amstel has apologized, particularly to Schwimmer, stating he was sorry for her feeling bad due to the 2008 piece, emphasizing he respects her as a dancer and never intended to be part of anything that caused her pain.
- Schwimmer recalls the 2008 incident as highly impactful, leading to her crying numerous times due to feeling ashamed of her body. Yshe sees the incident as symptomatic of the DWTS culture that 'breeds body image issues for women'.
- Another DWTS star, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, was taken aback when Cheryl Burke brought up the 2008 comments in her podcast, especially given he publicly apologized to her weeks before for his remarks at the time. This follows his statement during the 2008 interview that implied the female dancers were overweight and needed to do something about it.
- Schwimmer reveals that due to the pressures of the show and these comments, she resorted to abusing diet pills and dropped from size 6 to size 2. She noticed more attention and opportunities on the show when she was thinner, further emphasizing her belief that the culture of DWTS creates and reinforces body image problems.
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