There is something that I really don’t like about Cheryl Burke. I’m not sure if it’s her face or what. I’d like to sound deeper than that and say it’s her personality, but I don’t know a thing about it. Other than every photo agency has a couple hundred photos of her falling out of clubs drunk, and that’s about it.

Cheryl is one of the most successful professional dancers on Dancing with the Stars. Recently she’s been getting a lot of flak for having put on a few pounds, and she’s defended herself by pointing out that there’s more than one way to be beautiful.

When bloggers called out Cheryl Burke for putting on a few pounds, the Dancing with the Stars pro fought back. But what upset her most, she says, is the unhealthy body image issues promoted by such stories.

“I want kids or women out there to realize you don’t have to be anorexic to be beautiful,” the two-time Dancing champ tells PEOPLE exclusively. “There’s a lot of pressure living this Hollywood life. People expect to see you at a certain weight and when you gain a few pounds then all of a sudden it’s the talk of the week.”

Burke, 24, says she is secure with her looks–and she advises fans to be true to themselves. “People will always have an opinion about you, whether it’s good or it’s bad,” she says. “But most important is to have a secure feeling about yourself and know that you’re beautiful regardless of what people think of you.”

Burke, who owns her own dance studio in San Francisco, admits it’s taken years for her to learn to embrace her curves. “When I was younger, I wasn’t stick thin. I wasn’t tall. I don’t have long legs. I wasn’t naturally skinny,” she confesses. “As I grew older, I just became more comfortable in my own skin.

[From People]

Okay so I mostly hate Cheryl Burke less now. I never did any sports as a kid (my body is physically unable to connect with a ball in a useful fashion) but took a ton of dance classes instead, and spending hours a week in front of a full-length mirror with fifteen other girls can really give you body image issues. Dancing is a great way to stay in shape, but it also makes you hyper-aware of any flaws in your shape.

And Cheryl makes a good point when she mentions that she’s short. You can tell she’s naturally curvy, and even a relatively minor weight gain is going to show up. The point is to be healthy. Though if she wants to take off a few of those pounds and be healthy, spending less time partying it up might help too.

Here’s Cheryl Burke, who Fame describes as “ much curvier” hanging out at One on Sunset Blvd. with fellow dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy on September 30th. Images thanks to Fame.