"We found her No Body Shame message compelling and a unique angle to explore stories related to weight and body image," says Wendy Douglas, TLC's East Coast VP of production. "She's an incredibly engaging, funny, and articulate individual who bucks stereotypes."
On the surface the show's title (My Big Fat Fabulous Life) may seem that it's leaning into the infantilizing "fat best friend" archetype, presenting Thore as a one-dimensional character who's constantly upbeat. And the show's branding, at times, certainly gives off that vibe: Thore is happy and smiley in the photos, where she wears whimsical skirts and strikes "sassy" poses. However, Thore tells me it's when the cameras aren't rolling that she feels the need to be the "fat best friend."
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TLC
"I definitely do feel that pressure to maintain this really happy facade," Thore says. "Something that I really don't like is when I'm not happy or bubbly and I'm upset about something from the way society is treating me, a lot of people will say, 'Whitney, why do you even care? It doesn't matter.' You can be happy and confident and also not happy about harassment, abuse, doctors not giving you good medical care, and fat discrimination."
This type of complexity is what you see on My Big Fat Fabulous Life. Thore says she's never felt any type of pressure from TLC to dilute her issues or present herself as the "fat best friend." And as far as the show's title is concerned, she owns it.
"I love the name," she says. "To me, it really embodies everything the content is about and everything I'm about. It juxtaposes the word fat with the word fabulous, which I think is really important. Sometimes haters will be like, 'Your life isn't fabulous, blah, blah, blah,' but my life is fabulous."
Thore especially loves the title in comparison to those aforementioned plus-size shows—the ones that make fat synonymous with sad.
"I think there are two extremes. I feel like when you see fat people on TV, it's either the 'funny fat friend' or a weight-loss show, where fat people are miserable," Thore says. "And if TLC's going to pick one way to brand me right now—we mostly deal with happy or miserable—I'd for sure go with happy."
