Sasha Pieterse, who many of us know as Alison DeLaurntis of Freeform’s Pretty Little Liars, has spoken out after being body shamed on social media for her weight gain.

The 21-year-old actress is slated for the upcoming season of ABC’s Dancing With The Stars and set the record straight before she makes her big debut.

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

She went on to shame the body shamers as she revealed the struggle she and other women have experienced.

“I think truly loving yourself is one of the hardest things we as humans can do. We live in a society that literlaly 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.”

She went on to say she’s happy with herself just the way she is and urged her fans to do the same.

“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 continued. “I decided at that point to love myself the way I am right now… 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.”

She added that she’s still growing but learning to be content with herself where she is now.

 

A post shared by Sasha Pieterse (@sashapieterse27) on Jul 14, 2016 at 10:59am PDT

The star has said in the past that a hormone imbalance is what has caused her weight to fluctuate.

Be sure to keep up with Enstars for the latest.