‘DWTS’ Celeb Sasha Pieterse Reveals She Gained 70 Pounds From a Hormone Imbalance

As one of the leads on Pretty Little Liars, Sasha Pieterse was mercilessly body-shamed after she put on weight last year. But now that the hit Freeform show is over, the 21-year-old has turned her sights to Dancing With the Stars, and spoke out about her 70-pound weight gain on a recent episode — which was caused by a hormone condition called polycystic ovary syndrome.

“[It was] one of the hardest things I’ve ever been through,” she shared. “I had no idea what was going on and I didn’t have any way of solving it.” But, Sasha has lost 15 pounds since joining the dance competition. “Now, I’m seeing results,” she said. “I think most importantly, I’m feeling like me again.” Scroll down to see the blonde beauty’s look throughout her career!

She eloquently hit back at trolls after posting on Snapchat.

The actress is definitely a role model for young girls based on the way she handled herself when haters began asking if she was pregnant. She explained at the time that her weight gain was caused by a hormone imbalance.

“There was major backlash on social media,” she wrote in a lengthy Twitter message. “People were actually angry that I had gained weight, I was being (and still am) called names, made fun of, the (unfortunate) usual but it wasn’t until people started asking and assuming I was pregnant that I decided to say something.”

Sasha in 2013 (left) and in 2017. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

She continued, “I think truly loving yourself is one of the hardest things we as humans can do. We live in a society that literally profits from our self doubt and insecurities. Woman [sic] in particular are judged by their looks wether [sic] they are in the spotlight or not. We’ve subconsciously been shaped by the notion that we can only base our self worth on how people positively or negatively decide to see us.”

Sasha encouraged her followers to focus their energy inward. “We’ve all heard our parents tell us to treat people the way you want to be treated, but I think often we don’t treat ourselves the way we should be treated,” she said. “I decided at that point to love myself the way I am right now.” She added, “Do not lower yourself to people who refuse to grow higher. If you don’t love yourself, you’ll continue to chase people who don’t love you either.” Wise words from a beautiful woman!

She showed a lot of promise at a young age.

One of Sasha’s audition tapes surfaced online, and in the clip, fans can see she was destined for stardom at just 12 years old.

She had other roles in TV and movies before starring as Alison DiLaurentis on Pretty Little Liars.

Even though she’s best known for her work on PLL, she had recurring roles on other hit series. She played Buffy Davis on the CBS sitcom Family Affair and Amanda Strazzulla on the NBC drama Heroes. Her first film credit was for the 2005 action flick, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D. We’ll be rooting for Sasha on DWTS!