If superstars are born and not made, Sasha Pieterse, the South African-born American actress, model, and singer-songwriter, would probably be at the top of the list. She has been standing in the arena since she was six years old and is popularly known for her role as Alison DiLaurentis, the queen bee from Rosewood High in Pretty Little Liars. Pieterse also participated in the 25th season of Dancing with the Stars in 2017.
She was bullied some time ago because of her weight gain but has lost a ton of weight since then. Read all about it here.
Sasha Pieterse Bio
Sasha Pieterse was born on February 17, 1996, in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa. Five years after her birth, her family moved to the United States and settled in Las Vegas, where she grew up before finally settling in Los Angeles, the center of the nation’s entertainment industry.
Both her parents are acrobatic dancers who have performed internationally, and as such, she started in the entertainment industry at an early age. Even as a child, she loved to go on stage with her parents, and by the time she was four years old, she had already signed a modeling and acting contract and began appearing in commercials. Therefore she had no regular school experience, but was taught at home and graduated at the age of 14.
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In 2002 Sasha made her television debut as Buffy in the sitcom Family Affair. She immediately started making waves and in 2004 she played a guest role as Grace in Stargate SG-1 and in two episodes of the short-lived TNT series Wanted (2005) as Millie Rose. She portrayed a terminal cancer patient, Andie in the medical drama House by Fox (2005). Although she only appeared in one episode, Autopsy, her performance earned her a nomination for the Daytime Emmy Award. Shortly thereafter, she received her first film role as Marissa, the Ice Princess, in the 2005 adventure film The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D.
In 2007, Sasha Pieterse starred in the films Good Luck Chuck and The Air I Breathe alongside Kevin Bacon, Forest Whitaker, and starred in the original Hallmark film Claire. She has also appeared in shows such as CSI: Miami (2007), Without a Trace (2009), Heroes (2009-2010), and Heroes: Slow Burn (2009), before starring as the enigmatic Alison Dilaurentis through the 7 seasons of ABC’s teen drama-mystery thriller Pretty Little Liars (PLL, 2010-2017). She will play her role again in the follow-up series entitled Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists on the Free Form in 2019.
While shooting PLL, she was cast as Amy Loubalu in the Disney Channel original film Geek Charming (2011), one episode each of Medium (2011) as Marie DuBois, Hawaii Five-0 as terrorist student Dawn Hatfield in 2014, and as Destiny in the web series Sing It! (2016). In films, Pieterse has had cameo appearances in X-Men: First Class (2011), as Fawcett Brooks in the teen comedy G.B.F. (2013), as Japonica Fenway in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice (2014), and as Aria in the indie film Burning Bodhi (2015).
After 7 seasons of PLL, Sasha continues her passion for film and television with her recent works, including the films Coin Heist (2017) and The Honor List (2008). She also performed in the 25th season of Dancing with the Stars, where she paired up with professional dancer Gleb Savchenko and the pair finished 10th.
Sasha is a talented singer. She sings in the rock and country genre and released four singles in 2013, including This Country is Bad Ass (April 12), R.P.M (June 13), I Can’t Fix You (July 12), and No (December 10), and plans to release an album soon. As a model, Pieterse appeared on the covers of the December 2014 issue of BELLO magazine Young Hollywood and the 2015 issue of TeenProm magazine.
Her impressive achievements have been recognized on many platforms and have also earned her several awards and nominations. In 2003 she won the Young Artist Award for best performance in a television series and two Teen Choice Awards (2014, 2016).
Family
Sasha Pieterse is the only child of her dancing parents, Sean and Zizi Pieterse.
On December 22, 2015, she got engaged to her childhood friend and 6-year-old boyfriend Hudson Sheaffer. The duo tied the wedding knot on May 27, 2018, at Leslie Castle in Glaslough, Ireland. They have two dogs; Lady and Levi.
Before Sheaffer, she was with Cayden Boyd. Their fourth single no, which is about standing firm in your beliefs and saying no when an unfaithful, lying ex-boyfriend asks for a second chance, could be a reference to their ex. However, this is only an assumption.
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Her Weight Gain, Weight Loss
While weight gain could be attributed to a number of factors such as lifestyle and diet, a number of people pack on body mass due to situations that are a little beyond their control, such as hormonal imbalances depending on their condition. Sasha Pieterse belongs to the latter group.
Although she prefers a healthy diet and goes to the gym about four or five times a week, where she mainly does cardio, spinning, and yoga, Sasha couldn’t help but wonder what was driving her weight gain. The answer was not long in coming. She revealed in the DWTS that she was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), which contributed to her weight gain. She gained 70 pounds in two years but gracefully lost 37 pounds while competing in the reality dance contest.
Sasha Pieterse continues to lead a healthy lifestyle and practices that promote health.
Facts About Sasha Pieterse
The PLL actress has a height of 5′ 6″ (1.68 m).
She is also an Instagram star with more than 9 million followers.
Her net worth is estimated at 2 million dollars.
She wasn’t the only South African at PLL, and Tammin Sursok, who portrayed Jenna, is also from the country.
She loves horse riding and started riding when she was only 9 years old.
Sasha is for art and loves what she offers, and is also immersed in it. She loves interior and exterior design, photography, modeling, and travel. She developed the travel bug as a child because she had to travel with her parents.
She also launched her jewelry line Rigid Creations in 2010 and her lifestyle blog website in 2015, focusing on food and decor, Sasha in Good Taste.
Her PLL co-star Ashley Benson portrayed a teenager named Jean Grey, a character who inspired her physical appearance in the 2008 comic strip X-Men Origins. She also turned down the offer to play Jean in X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), a role that was eventually played by Sophie Turner.
She is acclaimed as the executive producer of her RPM music video.
South African-born actress Charlize Theron takes the place of her favorite actress, while Matthew McConaughey takes the acting position.
