US reality TV star Whitney Thore has branded an interview with Eamonn Holmes as the “absolute worst” of her career and vowed never to appear on television with him again.
The 40-year-old is best known for the reality show My Big Fat Fabulous Life, which debuted in 2015 and recently concluded its twelfth season. Thore is also a body positivity campaigner, having previously worked alongside Tess Holliday and Natalie Hage to stamp out fat shaming.
When the show first began, Thore was interviewed by Holmes on Sky News in 2015, which saw him criticise her for setting a bad example and saying that her “heart is probably not very good”.
“I haven’t done any UK TV shows in about 10 years, but I would gladly go on any and all of them again – except for [any with] Eamonn Holmes,” Thore told the Daily Star.
“He conducted the absolute worst interview of my entire career, but other than that, my experience in the UK has always been so extremely lovely, and I love my time here so much”.
In the interview, Thore attempted to explain the fatphobia that she experiences on a daily basis, calling it “one of the last socially acceptable prejudices”.
Holmes questioned this, asking: “But what about people concerned about you? I mean there might be people concerned you’re gonna keel over and die because maybe your body or your heart won’t be able to sustain all the enthusiasm that you have.”
Thore rejected this notion, replying: “I think that concern for health is often a mask to discriminate or be cruel to fat people. I’d actually like to break some stereotypes about fat people because at 380 pounds I’m not naive to the health issues that may come if I stay this weight. But I have no major health problems and I’ve never even had high blood pressure.”
Holmes then suggested that he has been “lampooned” for his own weight, adding: “You’re doing your ankles no good, your knees no good, your hips no good and your heart is probably very no good. I do think there is concern people would look at you and say, ‘Ooh, are you sure?’”
The Northern Irish broadcaster continued: “But at least you’re doing something. Are you doing those moves to reduce your weight or just to say, “Look I may be big, but I’m still going to enjoy myself”?’
Thore responded: “So often, people say ‘Well she’s so fat and disgusting, why is she doing that? Why is she exercising, she’s killing her knees’ and I think well what’s the alternative, what would you rather me do? In our society, it’s like fat people can’t win.”
She also highlighted that her body positivity campaign has seen her contacted by numerous different people, dealing with different kinds of prejudice, including the LGBT+ community and people with disabilities and anorexia
“I think that the first part to pursuing health and happiness fully is to not be ashamed of ourselves. We cannot pursue a holistic picture of health - which is mind, body and spirit - until we are happy and unashamed, and know that we are worthy and deserving.”
