Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt has leaped to the defence of dancer Cheryl Burke after the U.S. media poked fun at her weight gain.

The Dancing With the Stars regular added five pounds to her frame over the summer prompting gossips to speculate she may be pregnant.

But when she confessed she was just a little heavier, the same journalists who poked fun at Hewitt when she was snapped in an unflattering swimsuit, turned on Burke.

Angry Hewitt snarls, "I think her dancing is what everyone needs to be concentrating on. Cheryl is an incredible dancer. She works her butt off to impress people every single week on Dancing With the Stars, and I just think she's fantastic."