‘My 600-lb Life’ Alum Lonnie Calls One Aspect of the TLC Show ‘Dangerous’
What’s it really like to go on a weight loss TV show? A former My 600-lb Life cast member recently opened up about his experience on the TLC series, and he didn’t mince words. Lonnie Hambrick, who appeared in season 8, called the show “absolute bulls***” and said that one particular aspect of the series was “dangerous.”
Lonnie appeared in ‘My 600-lb Life’ Season 8
Lonnie and his brother John’s weight loss journey was chronicled in My 600-lb Life Season 8. But Lonnie never actually set out to appear on TV, he explained during a September 2022 appearance on the podcast Falling Out LGBTQ. Instead, it was his brother who wanted to get cast on the TLC reality series.
John was a fan of My 600-lb Life who applied to be on the show and was cast. Initially, Lonnie was just supposed to appear as part of his brother’s support team. Though he weighed more than 500 pounds at the time, he said he “wasn’t the typical cast member,” given that he had a job and was still able to get around on his own. But his vibrant personality captured the attention of producers, and they decided to feature him and his brother in the same episode.
“I found out I was getting cast the morning we met the doctor,” Lonnie said.
He didn’t have an entirely positive experience on the TLC show
Lonnie and John both worked with Dr. Younan Nowzaradan (aka Dr. Now) to shed pounds and qualify for weight loss surgery. But when it came to unpacking the emotional and psychological issues that were driving him to overeat, Lonnie said he had to do that work on his own.
“I had one counseling session,” he said. “It was on camera. And I was so naive that every time they asked us to do something I just put everything into it.”
“I talked and cried to that woman for two hours,” he added.” And the producer looked at me and was like, ‘So, can you talk a little bit more about your mom?’ Because that was the story they were telling.”
Lonnie said that My 600-lb Life wanted to tell a story about how John and Lonnie’s mother was “unsupportive and terrible.” But that wasn’t an accurate representation of their family’s dynamics, he said. Lonnie admitted that he and his mother had problems in the past. But his family had already worked through a lot of their issues prior to appearing on TLC.
“There’s so much healing that happened before we started the show in our family,” he said.
My 600-lb Life also misrepresents the extent of the psychological support provided to those who appear on the show, according to Lonnie. While it looks like cast members have access to those resources, they “absolutely” do not, he said.
“They portray that there is [support],” he said. “I think that’s the biggest, most dangerous thing about this show.”
“TV’s absolute bulls***,” he said. “That show’s absolute bulls***”
Lonnie from ‘My 600-lb Life’ realized he didn’t need to go on TV to lose weight
Lonnie found the therapy provided through the show basically useless. But it did make him realize that he had to start working on his mental health on his own. He accepted that he had a food addiction.
“I had to start recognizing those addictive traits,” he said.
Unlike some people who appear on My 600-lb Life, Lonnie was ultimately successful in his effort to lose weight. Part of that came from his fear of looking like a failure on national TV.
“Honestly, having the world watch you do this is greatly motivating,” he said. However, he thinks he’d have been able to lose the weight even if he didn’t go on the show, if he’d been able to adopt the right mindset.
“The biggest thing I learned about being on TV to lose weight was that I didn’t actually need to be on TV,” he said. “All that power was within me.”
My 600-lb Life Season 11 premieres on Feb. 1, 2023, at 8 p.m. ET.
For more on the entertainment world and exclusive interviews, subscribe to Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s YouTube channel.
