Amber Riley is opening up about how she learned to love and appreciate her body in a new interview.
The 36-year-old actress and singer revealed that her time on Dancing With the Stars contributed a lot to her body confidence.
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Amber told Page Six that during her time on Glee, she had been attacked for her appearance and weight by cyber bullies.
“I suffered so much through my time on Glee with people always having an opinion about my body. Like, my body was always a topic of conversation,” she shared. “It was a war zone for such a long time for people to pick over online.”
Amber then revealed that DWTS was a show that helped her win back her confidence that she had lost.
“I will always be grateful for that time [on the series] because I got to show myself in all my glory,” she said.
Amber also admitted that she was initially hesitant to participate in the reality dance competition because of the scrutiny that she would potentially have to face once again.
“But me being me, the things that scare me and the things that challenge me, I have to do it,” she shared. Amber and partner Derek Hough won the mirrorball trophy that year.
She continued, “I started loving on my body [because] you can’t dance in that way and not love yourself. You have to love your body because you’re moving it in such a way where if you aren’t loving every single curve, it’s not going to connect with other people.”
Amber adds that her mindset has evolved over the years about body confidence: “Someone that I don’t even know, someone that I’ve never met, created these beauty standards, [so] why do I care? I don’t even know who the person is that created what I’m ‘supposed to look like.’”
“I just decided to stop torturing myself and start loving on myself,” she says. “That doesn’t mean that I think everything about me is perfect and I don’t have my bad days, but overall, as a person, I deserve to feel beautiful just like everyone else deserves to feel beautiful.”
If you missed it, Amber was just declared the winner on this other competition show.