'She looks so bad': Sasha Pieterse fat-shamed ahead of Dancing With the Stars premiere

Sasha Pieterse is a darling of the fans as Alison in the series Pretty Little Liars. After proving her mettle as an actress, she is now heading to the dance floor to fight it out for the Mirrorball Trophy on Dancing With the Stars season 25.

The news was announced on the official Instagram page of PLL (the show has wrapped up after 7 seasons) as they wished luck to their beloved star by sharing her photo with her dancing pro Gleb Savchenko. Soon, the page was flooded with congratulatory messages for the actress. However, there were a few who opted to see beyond her beauty and fat-shamed her for her thick appearance.

"Fat-astic... OMG so much out of shape, hopefully, she can dance the entire season and lose weight she looks so bad," a user commented on the image. "Wow, she was fat, before she was thin and beautiful," another internet user said about the 21-year-old actress' changing physique.

However, several fans jumped to her defence and reminded the fat-shamers that she has battled with hormonal conditions leading to increased weight. "She's publicly addressed this for awhile now. She has some bad hormonal issues. People have been super meaning to her about it," one fan defended her.

Despite her weight gain, many hope that Pieterse will win the title. Speaking about her new endeavour, the actress told ET Online: "I'm really glad to be a part of this season."

"They asked me, like, I'd say three or four years ago and I wasn't able to do it. Scheduling was a nightmare and they said that they'd come back around. And they came back around, which was so awesome and this is the 25th season!"

Pieterse is ready to face the challenge and wants to make her parents, who are professional acrobatic dancers, feel proud. "That's actually one of the reasons we immigrated to America," she shared. "So I think that part of it, I'm really proud to be able to be a part of that and kind of what they started. And I know my mom cried when I told her. She's beyond excited, but I think just kind of proving to myself that I can do something totally different, something that I'm not used to. It's definitely not in my comfort zone... The fact that it's live, I am losing my mind, like, I'm good at memorising lines but memorizing dances, it's gonna be a challenge. It's gonna be fun."

Dancing With the Stars season 25 will premiere on 18 September on ABC.