My 600-lb Life

My 600-lb Life is a reality television series that has aired on the TLC television network since 2012. Each episode follows a year in the life of morbidly obese individuals, who begin the episode weighing at least 600 pounds (270 kg), and documents their attempts to reduce their weight to a healthy level. Update episodes, called "Where Are They Now?", feature one or more previous patients, picking up a year or more after their original episodes aired.

My 600-lb Life
Also known as	Kilos Mortales (Latin America)
Genre	Reality
Directed by	Jonathan Nowzaradan Conor McAnally
Starring	Younan Nowzaradan, MD
Composer(s)	David Hamburger
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	8
No. of episodes	110 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Jack Tarantino Cameo Wallace Ron Bowman Jeff Keels Graham Davidson Tom Mireles Jonathan Nowzaradan
Producer(s)	Leslie Appleyard Amy Yerrington Dawn Cooper Johnson
Production location(s)	Houston, Texas
Cinematography	Taylor Rudd
Editor(s)	Shrader Thomas Jennifer Kovacs Gareth Dawson John Gehrke Knox Hughes
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	45 Mins (excluding advertisements)(Season 1-4), 85 Mins (excluding commercials) (Season 5-)
Production company(s)	Megalomedia
Distributor	The Learning Channel
Release
Original network	TLC
Original release	February 1, 2012 (2012-02-01) – present
External links
Website

Patients are placed under the care of Iranian-American Houston surgeon Younan Nowzaradan (often referred to as simply "Dr. Now"), who first has them attempt losing weight on their own by following a strict diet, and then depending on the patient's progress may offer gastric bypass surgery or sleeve gastrectomy to further assist in weight loss.[1]

Concept

This series was originally a five-part miniseries involving four morbidly obese patients. Because of its popularity, new episodes were filmed, including a "Where Are They Now?" retrospective in Season 4 that follows up on previous patients to track their weight-loss journey months or years after bariatric surgery.[2]

In Season 1, patients were filmed over a period of seven years (2004–2011). Beginning with Season 2, patients were filmed for only one year. In Season 8, certain patients' stories were filmed for only six months.

Beginning with Season 5, new episodes began filming as 2-hour episodes instead of 1-hour. This was previously done with Melissa's Story (split into two parts) and Lupe's Story. Recap episodes titled under "Supersized" and "Extended", which include additional facts and footage respectively, also aired during this season.

Subject outcomes

Seven patients have died since appearing on the show.

• Henry Foots, who was featured in season one, died of an illness unrelated to his weight loss surgery on May 16, 2013.[3]
• Sean Milliken, who was chronicled on the fourth season of the show, died on February 17, 2019, from an infection.[4]
• LB Bonner, who was featured on the sixth season of the show, died by suicide on August 2, 2018.[5]
• Lisa Fleming, also a third sixth season participant, died on August 23, 2018.[6]
• Rob Buchel was featured in season six and suffered a fatal heart attack on November 15, 2017, during filming of the show, while staying in a skilled nursing facility in Houston.[7] Buchel's death was the first in the series to be featured during the patient's respective episode.
• Kelly Mason, a participant on the show's seventh season, died on February 15, 2019, from heart failure. Mason's death was the second in the series to be featured during the patient's respective episode.[8]
• James King, a participant on the show's fifth season, died on April 3, 2020.[9]

Susan Farmer, who appeared in an episode on the show's third season, notably faced neuropathy as a result of her weight, which was profiled on the show.[10]

Spin off

Beginning in January 2015, TLC began airing My 600-lb Life: Where Are They Now?. The purpose of this spin off was to update viewers on the weight loss journeys of people featured on previous seasons. As of 2018, five seasons of the Where Are They Now? follow-ups have aired.

Lawsuit

In 2020, several news outlets reported that several former patients of Dr. Nowzardan who appeared on the series, and the family of one patient, LB Bonner, who committed suicide, had brought suit against the show's production company, Megalomedia, alleging negligence and claiming that the company failed to cover medical costs.[11][12]

Controversy

Highlighting weight loss in a negative and dramatic light could cause some controversy. When viewers see the struggles of those who are morbidly obese such as the subjects of this show in something as informal and dramatized as a reality TV show it can reinforce negative stereotypes. One being, those who are overweight are often linked to low status, sloth like and gluttony.[13] Also, with the rapid weight loss goals, it may reinforce or disregard proper attention for eating disorder behavior. Eating disorders such as binge eating disorder that typically cause obesity are treated as bad individual behavior whereas anorexia is seen as a debilitating medical condition that someone suffers from and must be treated.[14] Lastly, there could be the issue of the after effects of such drastic weight loss and eating habits that come from participating in the show. Studies have been shown through a survey of those who had lost 100 pounds or more from gastric bypass such as in the show, nearly every patient would rather be deaf, blind, have heart disease or lose a leg than gain the weight back.[15]

Series overview

Main article: List of My 600-lb Life episodes

Season		Episodes		Originally aired
				First aired	Last aired	Network
	1	6		February 1, 2012 (2012-02-01)	March 26, 2012 (2012-03-26)	TLC
	2	8		January 7, 2014 (2014-01-07)	February 25, 2014 (2014-02-25)
	3	10		January 7, 2015 (2015-01-07)	April 8, 2015 (2015-04-08)
	4	12		January 6, 2016 (2016-01-06)	May 18, 2016 (2016-05-18)[16]
	5	14		January 4, 2017 (2017-01-04)	April 16, 2017 (2017-04-16)
	6	16		January 3, 2018 (2018-01-03)	May 9, 2018 (2018-05-09)
	7	20		January 2, 2019 (2019-01-02)	May 15, 2019 (2019-05-15)
	8	16		January 1, 2020 (2020-01-01)	April 15, 2020 (2020-04-15)

Season 1

Ep	Patient Name	Starting Age	Location	Starting Weight	Ending Weight (7 yrs)	Total Weight Loss (7 yrs.)	Notes
1/2	Melissa Morris	31 years old	Livingston, TX	653 pounds (296 kg)	206 pounds (93 kg)	447 pounds (203 kg)
3	Donald Shelton	34 years old	Pasadena, TX	675 pounds (306 kg)	390 pounds (180 kg)	285 pounds (129 kg)
4	Henry Foots	47 years old	Houston, TX	715 pounds (324 kg)	275 pounds (125 kg)	440 pounds (200 kg)	Deceased, age 54
5	Ashley Randall	24 years old	Killeen, TX	617 pounds (280 kg)	253.1 pounds (114.8 kg)	364 pounds (165 kg)

Season 2

Ep	Patient Name	Starting Age	Location	Starting Weight	Ending Weight (12 mos.)	Total Weight Loss (12 mos. or from later peak weight)	Notes
1	Zsalynn Whitworth	42 years old	San Antonio, TX	596.7 lbs	349.9 lbs	248 lbs
2	Olivia Cruz	46 years old	Chicago, IL	580.3 lbs	241 lbs	339 lbs
3	Penny Saeger	45 years old	Elkton, MD	530 lbs	495 lbs	35 lbs
4	Chuck Turner	45 years old	Beaumont, TX	693.7 lbs	268.5 lbs	425 lbs
5	Christina Phillips	22 years old	South Haven, MS	639.7 lbs	390 lbs	267 lbs (EPW-earlier peak weight)
6	Paula Jones	39 years old	Jonesboro, GA	533.8 lbs	390.5 lbs	160 lbs (LPW)
7	James Jones	37 years old	Frankston, TX	728 lbs	376.7 lbs	352 lbs
8	Tara Taylor	35 years old	Lafayette, LA	606 lbs	328 lbs	278 lbs

Season 3

Ep	Patient Name	Starting Age	Location	Starting Weight	Ending Weight (12 mos.)	Total Weight Loss (12 mos. or from later peak weight)	Notes
1	Amber Rachdi	23 years old	Troutdale, OR	657.6 lbs	390.5 lbs	267 lbs
2	Susan Farmer	37 years old	Eddy, TX	607.6 lbs	340 lbs	267 lbs
3	Pauline Potter	50 years old	Sacramento, CA	673.5 lbs	529 lbs	149 lbs (LPW)
4	Bettie Jo Elmore	24 years old	Potosi, MO	654 lbs	498.7 lbs	156 lbs
5	Angel Parrish	42 years old	Kerrville, TX	570.4 lbs	261.8 lbs	309 lbs
6	Joe Wexler	31 years old	Johnson City, TN	777 lbs	592.6 lbs	200 lbs (LPW)
7	Laura Perez	41 years old	San Antonio, TX	594.6 lbs	357.8 lbs	237 lbs
8	Charity Pierce	39 years old	Cedar Rapids, IA	778.8 lbs	496.6 lbs	282 lbs
9	Chay Guillory	23 years old	Charenton, LA	597.5 lbs	478.7 lbs	119 lbs
10	Marla McCants	43 years old	Nashville, TN	800 lbs (estimated)	534.2 lbs	266 lbs (estimated)

Season 4

Ep	Patient Name	Starting Age	Location	Starting Weight	Ending Weight (12 mos.)	Total Weight Loss (12 mos. or from later peak weight)	Notes
2	Nikki Webster	33 years old	Little Rock, AR	649.7 lbs	443.4 lbs	207 lbs
3	Brittani Fulfer	32 years old	Tualatin, OR	605 lbs	375.6 lbs	230 lbs
4	Chad Dean	42 years old	Hagerstown, MD	701.4 lbs	441.5 lbs	260 lbs
5	June McCamey	43 years old	Houston, TX	590.5 lbs	389.2 lbs	201 lbs
6	Dottie Perkins	34 years old	Oxford, MS	641.9 lbs	520 lbs	149 lbs (LPW)
7	Gideon Yeakley	33 years old	Mustang, OK	649.9 lbs	429.6 lbs	220 lbs
8	Ashley Dunn-Bratcher	27 years old	Kemp, TX	725.1 lbs	470.5 lbs	255 lbs
9	Teretha Hollis-Neely	47 years old	Detroit, MI	800 lbs (estimated)	461 lbs	339 lbs
10	Randy Statum	35 years old	Hull, TX	655.9 lbs	441.9 lbs	214 lbs
11	Milla Clark	47 years old	Fayetteville, TN	751 lbs	598 lbs	153 lbs
12	Sean Milliken	26 years old	Cameron Park, CA	919 lbs	548 lbs	455 lbs (LPW)	Deceased, age 29
13	Lupe Samano	39 years old	San Bernardino, CA	642 lbs	360 lbs	295 lbs (LPW)

Season 5

Ep	Patient Name	Starting Age	Location	Starting Weight	Ending Weight (12 mos.)	Total Weight Loss (12 mos. or from later peak weight)	Notes
1	Brandi Dreier	29 years old	Vancouver, WA	587.9 lbs	360 lbs	228 lbs
	Kandi Dreier	29 years old	Vancouver, WA	604.7 lbs	384 lbs	220 lbs
2	Ashley Reyes	30 years old	West Hills, CA	668.8 lbs	414 lbs	254 lbs
3	Cynthia Wells	42 years old	Oklahoma City, OK	610.3 lbs	454 lbs	156 lbs
4	Kirsten Perez	38 years old	Longview, WA	612.5 lbs	442 lbs	170 lbs
5	Doug Armstrong	36 years old	Wichita Falls, TX	684.8 lbs	462.4 lbs	222 lbs
6	Erica Wall	44 years old	Lompoc, CA	661.6 lbs	471 lbs	190 lbs
7	Diana Bunch	55 years old	Seattle, WA	601.1 lbs	336 lbs	265 lbs
8	Michael Dominguez	32 years old	Glendale, AZ	635.9 lbs	348.7 lbs	287 lbs
9	Nicole Lewis	23 years old	Marion, OH	684.6 lbs	521.3 lbs	163 lbs
10	Tanisha Cleveland	32 years old	Silsbee, TX	588.7 lbs (later 603 lbs)	484 lbs	119 lbs	Took place over 2 years
11	James King	46 years old	Paducah, KY	735 lbs	788.6 lbs, dismissed from program in Month 11	55 lbs (LPW)	Deceased, age 49
12	Tracey Matthews	45 years old	Lorain, OH	605.9 lbs	388 lbs	218 lbs
13/14	Steven Assanti	33 years old	Cranston, RI	730.8 lbs	677.5 lbs	131 lbs (LPW)
	Justin Assanti	27 years old	Cranston, RI	604.2 lbs	Unknown	Unknown

Season 6

Ep	Patient Name	Starting Age	Location	Starting Weight	Ending Weight (12 mos.)	Total Weight Loss (12 mos. or from later peak weight)	Notes
1	Rena Kiser	39 years old	Houston, MO	549 lbs	278 lbs	271 lbs
	Lee Sutton	42 years old	Houston, MO	714 lbs	411 lbs	303 lbs
2	Janine Mueller	53 years old	Seattle, WA	678.2 lbs	566 lbs	112 lbs
3	Liz Evans	35 years old	Freeport, TX	721.3 lbs	368 lbs	353 lbs
4	Alicia Kirgan	32 years old	Madison, IL	622.3 lbs	436 lbs	186 lbs
5	Karina Garcia	38 years old	Converse, TX	633.2 lbs	398 lbs	235 lbs
6	James "L.B." Bonner	29 years old	Lexington, SC	642.3 lbs	326 lbs	316 lbs	Deceased, age 30
7	Lisa Fleming	49 years old	Mobile, AL	704.3 lbs	Unknown, dismissed from program in Month 6	Unknown	Deceased, age 50
8	Robert Buchel	41 years old	Forked River, NJ	842.1 lbs	502 lbs, died during filming in Month 9	340 lbs	Deceased, age 41
9	Tamy Lyn Murrell	45 years old	Covington, KY	591.7 lbs	346.2 lbs	246 lbs
10	David Bolton	35 years old	Houston, TX	747.1 lbs	386 lbs	361 lbs
	Benji Bolton	32 years old	Houston, TX	582.5 lbs	218 lbs	364 lbs
11	Renee Biran	53 years old	Valdosta, GA	631.8 lbs	381 lbs	250 lbs
12	Sarah Neeley	25 years old	Dayton, OH	642.3 lbs	393 lbs	260 lbs
13	Schenee Murry-Hawkins	27 years old	Indianapolis, IN	665.2 lbs	664.4 lbs, dismissed from program in Month 8	48 lbs
14	Jennifer Jess	42 years old	Bend, OR	636.3 lbs	426 lbs	210 lbs
	Marissa Jess	26 years old	Bend, OR	573.1 lbs	341 lbs	232 lbs
15/16	Roshanda Perrio	30 years old	Lafayette, LA	803.7 lbs	605.7 lbs	198 lbs+ (final weight given at 11 mos.)
	Brandie Perrio	29 years old	Lafayette, LA	620.6 lbs	382.3 lbs	238 lbs+ (final weight given at 11 mos.)
	Clarence Perrio	33 years old	Lafayette, LA	582.7 lbs	437.9 lbs	145 lbs+ (final weight given at 9 mos.)

Season 7

Ep	Patient Name	Starting Age	Location	Starting Weight	Ending Weight (12 mos.)	Total Weight Loss (12 mos. or from later peak weight)	Notes
1	Octavia Gahagans	42 years old	Kansas City, MO	692.3 lbs	456 lbs	236 lbs
2	Brianne Dias	30 years old	Florence, OR	742.2 lbs	358 lbs	384 lbs+ (ended at 11 mos.)
3	Robin Mckinley	40 years old	Meade, KS	648.7 lbs	395 lbs	253 lbs
	Garrett Rogers	20 years old	Meade, KS	607.3 lbs	337 lbs	270 lbs
4	Justin McSwain	27 years old	Rock Hill, SC	687.5 lbs	353.5 lbs	334 lbs
5	Holly Hager	38 years old	Ellijay, GA	658.1 lbs	418 lbs	240 lbs
6	Lacey Hodder	29 years old	Bay City, MI	691.2 lbs	435 lbs	256 lbs
7	Brandon Scott	33 years old	Columbus, OH	718.4 lbs	383.7 lbs	335 lbs
8	Maja Radanovic	33 years old	Portland, OR	689.4 lbs	592.5 lbs, left program in Month 8	97 lbs
9	Tiffany Barker	28 years old	Marysville, WA	672.5 lbs	415 lbs	257 lbs
10	Destinee LaShaee	27 years old	Pineville, LA	669 lbs	440 lbs	229 lbs	Born as Matthew LaShaee
11	Jeanne Covey	39 years old	Big Sandy, TX	702.4 lbs	670.7 lbs, left program in Month 6	32 lbs
12	Aaron Washer	30 years old	New Braunfels, TX	718.1 lbs	402.7 lbs	315 lbs
13	Kelly Mason	41 years old	Greensboro, NC	725.5 lbs	383 lbs, died during filming in Month 10	342 lbs	Deceased, age 41
14	Annjeanette Whaley	30 years old	Hillsboro, OR	679.1 lbs	405 lbs	274 lbs
15	Angela Gutierrez	44 years old	Ross, OH	608.4 lbs	No second weigh-in, left program in Month 8	Unknown
16	LaShanta White	39 years old	Kenner, LA	662 lbs	529.5 lbs, briefly dismissed from program in Month 9	160 lbs (LPW)
17	Cillas Givens	35 years old	Fairview, OK	729 lbs	313 lbs	416 lbs
18	Mercedes Cephas	37 years old	Cincinnati, OH	773.2 lbs	692 lbs	81 lbs
19	Angela Johns	39 years old	Massillon, OH	643.3 lbs	594.6 lbs, dismissed from program in Month 8	49 lbs
20	Vianey Rodriguez	35 years old	Chicago, IL	594.8 lbs+ (1st weigh in at month 4)	369 lbs	226 lbs+ (made some progress before first weigh-in)
	Allen Lewis	51 years old	Chicago, IL	648.1 lbs+ (1st weigh in at month 4)	376 lbs	272 lbs+ (made some progress before first weigh-in)

Season 8

Ep	Patient Name	Starting Age	Location	Starting Weight	Ending Weight (12 mos.)	Total Weight Loss (12 mos.)	Notes
1	John Hambrick	34 years old	Wylie, TX	686.5 lbs	393 lbs	294 lbs
	Lonnie Hambrick	35 years old	Haltom City, TX	612.7 lbs	368 lbs	245 lbs
2	Lindsey Witte	39 years old	Hills, IA	647.6 lbs	438 lbs	209 lbs
3	Bethany Stout	40 years old	Alva, OK	604.7 lbs	504 lbs, left the program in Month 11	100.7 lbs
4	Julius (J.T.) Clark	32 years old	Claremore, OK	892.2 lbs	491 lbs	401 lbs
5	Gina Krasley	28 years old	Tuckerton, NJ	606.7 lbs	556.2 lbs	50.5 lbs
6	Travis Henry	31 years old	Carrollton, TX	617.3 lbs	379 lbs	238 lbs
7	Joyce Del Viscovo	44 years old	Gardner, KS	759.2 lbs	623.8 lbs, left the program in month 12	134.4 lbs
8	Carlton Oglesby	24 years old	Columbus, OH	786 lbs	544 lbs	242 lbs+ (ended at 6 mos.)
	Shantel Oglesby	31 years old	Columbus, OH	638 lbs	424 lbs	214 lbs+ (ended at 6 mos.)
9	Seana Collins	22 years old	Kansas City, MO	659 lbs	661.3 lbs	2.3 lb gain
10	Ashley Bernard	31 years old	Carenco, LA	637 lbs	504 lbs	133 lb
11	Tommy Johnson	38 years old	Winnsboro, LA	641 lbs	423 lbs	218 lbs
12	Coliesa McMillian	41 years old	New Roads, LA	643 lbs	499 lbs	144 lbs (ended at 6 mos.)
13	Dominic Hernandez	37 years old	Fresno, CA	672 lbs	650 lbs, dismissed from program Month 6	22 lbs	First patient in the show to be currently homeless
14	Megan Davis	24 years old	Taylorville, IL	604 lbs	481 lbs	123 lbs
15	Ashley Taylor	24 years old	Temple, TX	486 lbs	469 lbs	17 lbs (ended at 6 mos.)
16	Leneatha Reed	40 years old	Meridian, MS	604 lbs	575 lbs, left program in Month 6	29 lbs

References

1. King, Brittany (May 30, 2017). "My 600-Lb. Life Dr. Nowzaradan on Why It's Difficult for Patients to Keep the Weight Off". People. Retrieved November 18, 2017.
2. "'My 600-lb Life: Where are They Now?': Have They Kept The Weight Off?". The Huffington Post. March 27, 2012. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
3. "Henry Foots Obituary". Retrieved November 17, 2017 – via Legacy.com.
4. "My 600-Lb. Life Star Sean Milliken Is Dead at Age 29". people.com. Retrieved 2019-07-18.
5. "'My 600-Lb Life' Star L.B. Bonner Dead At 30". Aug 3, 2018. Retrieved Feb 20, 2019.
6. Hearon, Sarah (August 24, 2018). "'My 600-lb Life' Star Lisa Fleming Dead at 50". US Weekly. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
7. Bever, Lindsey (March 2, 2018). "A 'My 600-lb Life' participant died while filming his fight to lose weight". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
8. "Kelly Mason Becomes Second 'My 600-LB Life' Subject To Die During Show's Filming, Suffering Heart Failure". Inqisitr. Retrieved 2019-07-18.
9. "James D. King". Milner & Orr. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
10. "Woman whose weight left her temporarily paralysed loses 19 stone and learns to walk again". metro.co.uk. April 9, 2015. Retrieved 2019-07-18.
11. "Three More 'My 600 Lb Life' Cast Members File Lawsuits Against Show's Production Company; Their Lawyer Says They "Intend to End This Show"". The Ashley's Reality Roundup. 2020-02-27. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
12. Delott, Simon (2020-02-28). "My 600-lb Life Sued by FOUR Former Stars: End This Show, NOW!". The Hollywood Gossip. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
13. Saguy, Abigail C.; Gruys, Kjerstin (May 2010). "Morality and Health: News Media Constructions of Overweight and Eating Disorders". Social Problems. 57 (2): 231–250. doi:10.1525/sp.2010.57.2.231.
14. Saguy, Abigail C.; Gruys, Kjerstin (May 2010). "Morality and Health: News Media Constructions of Overweight and Eating Disorders". Social Problems. 57 (2): 231–250. doi:10.1525/sp.2010.57.2.231.
15. Tomiyama, A. Janet; Mann, Traci (May 2013). "If Shaming Reduced Obesity, There Would Be No Fat People". Hastings Center Report. 43 (3): 4–5. doi:10.1002/hast.166. ISSN 0093-0334.
16. "My 600-lb Life". January 1, 2000. Retrieved April 20, 2017 – via IMDb.

External links

• My 600-lb Life at TLC.com