Alix Earle’s stepmom Ashley Dupré has backpedalled after making body-shaming remarks about Dancing With the Stars guest judge Cheryl Burke.
Sharing a video via her TikTok account on Friday, October 31, Dupré apologized for publicly telling Burke to “go take more Ozempic” after the dancer gave Earle a low score on DWTS.
“I just wanted to jump on here and apologize for making comments that were insensitive in the heat of the competition,” Dupré, 40, said via the TikTok clip.
“My step-motherly instincts got the better of me. Never ever do I want to make another person feel bad. In fact, I try to do the opposite and I always try to pick others up. If you follow me, you know that about me, I hope. And that’s how we raised our children.”
She added, “I’m sorry that my actions did not reflect that. I hope everyone has a great Halloween.”
Burke, 41, appeared to reference Dupré’s controversial Ozempic remarks on Thursday, October 30, when she slammed critics who body-shamed her when giving their take on her scoring.
“My comments didn’t just come out of nowhere. It came from personal experience. It came from being on this show for 26 seasons, and it also came from all the years of being trained, being coached myself and I have seen so many mixed reviews, which is totally fine, but what’s not okay is I’ve also seen so many aggressive ones and a lot of body shaming ones,” Burke said in a video posted via her Instagram account.
@ashley.earle 🖤
♬ original sound – Ashley Earle
Burke added that while she could accept positive or negative criticism if it was constructive, feedback that slammed her looks was out of line.
“I know that I did the best that I could with the information that I had and with what I saw in real time, and for the people who think body shaming is okay, especially in front of your children, that sends a powerful message about what you value,” she added.
Burke continued, “And clearly it’s not kindness, I was simply again, doing my job as a judge, giving feedback based on almost 20 years of my life, and if my score was different from the other judges, it was by one point. I have dedicated my whole life towards being a competitor of ballroom dancing.”
In the video, Burke also pointed out that these types of comments made in front of children can have a lasting impact.
“And you know, you don’t have to agree with my critique, but you do have to recognize the influence your words have on the next generation watching you. If that’s the example you choose to set, then please, I beg of you leave my name out of it,” she said.
The professional dancer, who appeared on DWTS for 26 seasons, previously denied using weight loss drugs to shed pounds.
“There’s just no way, I faint at the sight of needles,” she exclusively told Us Weekly in August. “And I’ve heard of side effects, people not feeling well, certain things that happen that are too gross to share. I’m not willing to feel like that. I changed my eating habits. I stopped eating past 7 p.m. and it changed my whole body. It wasn’t so much about a number on the scale as it was about how I feel.”
