Whitney Thore's life changed drastically in a matter of months when she finally realized that she possed the power to take her life, body and health into her own hands. During season one of her TLC reality TV series "My Big Fat Fabulous Life," she was single, living with her parents, and just starting her Big Girl dance class along with her social media campaign "No Body Shame." And while she was close to developing type 2 diabetes, she was also in the process of learning how to take ownership of the word "fat."
By season two, the ever-fearless Thore was moving into a new home with a friend, her dance class had three big performances, she began dating (and fell in love with) a tall bearded artist named Lennie Alehat, and she took control of her health, ultimately turning back the pre-diabetes diagnosis. Within a short period of time, she transformed and emerged from her cocoon as a confident, powerful, body-positive activist who doesn't let the haters bring her down.
Now, fresh off the heels of her trip to South Africa for the TLC upfronts to promote "My Big Fat Fabulous Life," Whitney chatted with HNGN to dish about all the positive changes she's experienced in her life, and she discussed what's next for her on her journey as the face of the No Body Shame movement.
"Even just watching season two, I'm kind of amazed at how many things are going on and how far a lot of areas in my life has come, especially the dance class and my dance career," Thore told HNGN. "And then of course I found love in season two, so that's been a big thing and also my health. It's just been a lot."
Thore's story is one that's been told repeatedly on her TV show: a girl who grew up struggling with body image and eating disorders but who loved to dance. At 23, she was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), which is a disorder that affects the hormones with symptoms that include hair loss, depression, insulin resistance and sleep apnea, which all contribute to weight gain.
Her weight began to balloon in college. After gaining 100 pounds in eight months, Thore sunk into a deep depression and shame. But in 2014, at a point where she weight 380 pounds, she decided to get back into dancing and recorded a video with her friend and dance partner Todd Beasley. The video, titled "A Fat Girl Dancing," went viral and inspired Whitney to found her "No Body Shame Campaign." The campaign promotes body positivity, and it's that message that led TLC to approach her with the idea for a reality TV show.
"I personally am really proud of 'My Big Fat Fabulous Life.' It brings body positivity to the mainstream," Thore said. "And I think the body positivity movement, unfortunately it doesn't make it into a lot of people's living rooms. It's an online community you kind of have to seek out. I think 'My Big Fat Fabulous Life' is kind of revolutionary. It focuses on a fat woman's life, and it's not solely focused on weight loss, which is the first time we see something like that on TV. So I'm really proud of it."
Thore is part of a new era of reality TV, joining the ranks of fellow TLC star Jazz Jennings on "I Am Jazz" and Caitlyn Jenner of E!'s "I Am Cait," that's focusees on a message of acceptance and tolerence.
"I think it's unfortunate that reality TV gets a bad rap... on a network like TLC, it's is really meaningful," Thore explained. "TLC is committed to telling people's stories, and there's so many different types of people on the network."
She went on to explain that she didn't really know what she was getting herself into when she signed up for "My Big Fat Fabulous Life" since it's her first foray into realty TV. But she insists the show is an authentic portrayal of her life and gives her more control over how obese women are portrayed in the media.
For that reason, she praises actresses like Rebel Wilson and Melissa McCarthy and expanding the roles that bigger women play in film. They're no longer there for comic relief, and more women are being chosen as love interests and for leading roles. Still, she says there is lots of room for improvement.
"Women like them should be all over movies and TV, but it's up to someone else to give them a part," Thore said. "Whereas in reality TV, I'm kind of in charge of representing myself."
Now that she's a television personality, Thore has made numerous appearances on news shows to promote "My Big Fat Fabulous Life" and her "No Body Shame" campaign. Recently, an Internet personality Megan Crabbe (known for her Instagram account Body Posi Panda), and Thore were both interviewed by Sky News anchor Eamonn Holmes. But Thore took to her YouTube page to point out media bias on the differences between the way her body positivity message and Crabbe's body positivity message came across in their segments.
"I feel like I'm genuinely received pretty positively," Thore said, "and that's something that's very important to me. I've done from 'Good Morning America' to CNN, and what I've found is that even off-camera, people want to tell me their stories. They want to tell me about their daughters."
But during her interview with Holmes, Thore was told she was doing harm to her ankles, knees, hips and heart by dancing at her size. Holmes spoke condescendingly to Thore but praised Crabbe.
"It was the first time on TV that I had been talked to like that," Thore said. "However it doesn't really phase me. It does upset me because I think that's really ignorant, and I think there are a large percentage of people who are committed to hating me and misunderstanding me and it's frustrating."
Thore insists that anyone who takes the time to listen to her message would find there is nothing to "hate." She compares the prejudice fat people experience to racism. The ideologies still exist, but the conversations around them are changing, she says.
Thore joined the national conversation surrounding obesity when Canadian comedian Nicole Arbour's "Dear Fat People" went viral. She recorded her own response and posted it to her YouTube page, spreading words of love and encouragement to cancel out Arbour's mean-spirited comments directed toward overweight people.
But she hesitated before adding her voice to the mix. As an overweight woman, Thore experiences hateful comments across social media platforms on a daily basis. Some users regularly post death threats. But once she realized the video went viral, Thore felt that it was her duty to be the voice for fat people, especially those who with as thinner-skins.
"For those people watching this video [Arbour's], that can be a harmful message for them," Thore said. "That's when I decided to make a response."
Thore has three pieces of advice for anyone dealing with cyber-bullying. First, she advised them to develop a strong sense of self and to be committed to being happy and loving yourself.
"I think that happiness is a choice, I think confidence is a choice," Thore said, "and it's something you really have to work on."
Second, she advises people to surround themselves with others who love them and are positive in spirit – and then to focus on those relationships.
Finally, Thore insists that you must make yourself visible and put yourself out there in a positive way.
By putting out positive energy, Thore beleive she receives positive energy in return and credits that philosophy for the positive changes in her life.
One of the biggest of these changes occured in her love life. After struggling with online dating – and having to weed out men who were genuinely attracted to her as a person from those who were attracted to her because of what's known as a "fat fetish," Thore met her new boyfriend, Alehat. She is smitten with the artist and in one of the last episodes of season two, they each expressed their love for one another.
Thore also began her journey to becoming a healthier version of herself. At the end of the last season, Thore was diagnosed as pre-diabetic when her A1C test (the measure her glycated hemoglobin levels) came back at 6.4. Shortly after she received her diagnosis, her father Glenn also was diagnosed as pre-diabetic and the father-daughter duo embarked on their health journey together.
Thore said good-bye to carbs, started working out with a personal trainer and experienced milestones like riding a bike for the first time in years and completing a 5k run with Glenn.
During the season finale, Thore found out she had lost 16 pounds, reducing her weight from 378 to 362 and dropping her A1C levels from 6.5 to 5.8 as the result of diet and exercise. Thore is proud of that accomplishment but – unbelivably – it earned her criticism online at her Instagram account.
"People got really upset about that, like 'How can you possibly say that you're healthy?' And I was like. 'Wait a minute, the doctor said I'm healthy,' " she said. "On paper, I have the same health that you would assume the average skinny person has. I had to say I was shocked at some people getting really kind of angry, and I think they got angry because it challenged their beliefs about fat people."
Thore will continue to challenge people's beliefs about fat people as she continues with her "No Body Shame" campaign. She's designed a line of athletic apparel that bears the "No Body Shame" campaign logo on her web store, with proceeds going to the National PCOS Foundation and the National Eating Disorders Association.
She's also currently writing chapter four of her upcoming book "I Do It with the Lights On: And 9 More Surprising Truths About Living a Blissfully Shame-Free Life."
She also has plans to expand her Big Girl dance class on a national level, whether by hosting conventions or certifying instructors. And she also has big decisions to make about taking the next step in her love life with Alehat, but she's determined to continue to take more control over her health.
"I have a lot of future plans, certainly with my health," Thore said. "I can't be complacent about it, I still have to take care of myself."
