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Charity Lawson says ‘DWTS’ wrecked her mental health — but she wasn’t the first to suffer in silence

"It was so damaging, night in, night out. The pros didn't know; nobody knew what was going on," Charity Lawson revealed.

'Dancing With the Stars' is known for introducing a stellar star cast each season. In 2023, 'Bachelorette' star Charity Lawson participated in season 32 of the show. She went on to win the rounds and finally ended up in fourth place during the finale with her dancing pro partner, Artem Chigvintsev. However, despite winning over the audience with her freestyle dancing, Lawson confessed that the ABC reality show broke her confidence. While appearing on former dancing pro Cheryl Burke's 'Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans' podcast, she emotionally disclosed the details about being a victim of cyberbullying.

"I think to a certain degree it was expected," Lawson explained. "I came into the Dancing With the Stars fanbase like, 'This is going to be a piece of cake,' only to be… almost to the point where it was so much worse than 'Bachelor' and 'Bachelorette.'" Additionally, she disclosed that fans swarmed her personal social media pages and name-called her while also resorting to profanities. That was not all; she recalled even getting death threats for just participating in the reality show. As per The Hollywood Reporter, “I was getting, like, death threats for existing, for not performing enough, for being conceited, for being entitled, for being the biggest b***h on the cast. It's crazy."

"I never talked about it because I had to choose to protect my peace and not give any attention to this," she continued to make her point. "It was so damaging, night in, night out. The pros didn't know; nobody knew what was going on." The certified therapist revealed that she did draw attention to the untold harassment with the producers and her dancing pro, but by the time they could think of taking any action, the situation had escalated to a breaking point. Lawson disclosed that trolls started attacking her through the official pages of the dance show. “That’s where the emotional and mental part [that affected me during the show] came in really hard,” she recounted.

During the conversation, the 'Bachelorette' alum shockingly revealed that she received a text message warning her about a previous contestant, Olympic medalist Simone Biles, going through the same ordeal. "I was like, it's just honestly a trend, which is kinda frustrating. The difference is that I have to go through this life as a Black woman and be on a reality TV show. It's like the same things are just not protected," she reacted. Lawson further admitted that she felt surprised at the lack of support from her pro dancer because he couldn't "navigate" the situation. 

Calling it one of the "dark" phases of her life, Lawson admitted that she wanted to highlight the situation about contestants being vulnerable on the show and the producers not making any efforts to secure their privacy or safety. She expressed her disappointment that DWTS lacked mental health resources and exposed its participants to face bullying on their own. "I am only advocating for that and speaking about that because I'm like, god forbid someone else has to go through this and they're stuck in that rut," she said. While concluding, Lawson said that although she had a great time on the show, she “went to hell and back with my mental health.”