Born on April 14, 1984, Whitney Way Thore is an American activist, dancer and a reality television star, best known for her reality TV show My Big Fat Fabulous Life broadcasted by TLC Network. She is also the author of the book I Do It with the Lights On: And 10 More Discoveries on the Road to a Blissfully Shame-Free Life, which was published in May of 2016 and is a memoir of her own life.
What was Whitney Way Thore’s early life like?
Born to Glenn and Barbara Thorein Greensboro, North Carolina, Whitney Way Thore got accepted at the Governor’s School of North Carolina of Meredith College into the Theatre Summer Enrichment Program in 2000. In 2002, Thore graduated from Page High School and continued her higher studies at the Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina where she majored in Theatre. After graduating college, Thore moved to South Korea where she worked as an English school teacher. She also has a brother, Hunter Thore.
How did Whitney Way Thore’s career jumpstarted?
Upon returning to America from South Korea, Whitney landed a job as an on air-producer for a Greensboro, North Carolina radio show by the name Jared & Katie in the Morning on 107.5 KZL. On February 27, 2014, the show created a dance video called “A Fat Girl Dancing” on 107.5 KZL’s YouTube channel where Thore was seen dancing to Jason Derulo’s “Talk Dirty”.
The video went viral, thanks to Thore’s effortless choreography and confidence and she became came into the spotlight overnight. Soon she was featured on multiple media outlets and mainstream shows such as the NBC’s Today Show, ABC News and The Huffington Post. Thore garnered a massive following on social media and because of the extremely positive response, she decided to use her newfound popularity into something meaningful such as promoting and spreading awareness the message of body acceptance and body positivity.
After the viral video sparked a national conversation about body image, Whitney Way Thore launched the No Body Shame Campaign also known as the “No BS” movement which was an effort to help people from all spheres of lives to love their lives and themselves without shame or fear.
Whitney Way Thore’s work towards body positivity and self-love was gaining much praise and appreciation when TLC Network picked her up for a show where she would be documenting her life and navigating family, work, and relationships while embarking on a mission to lose weight. That was how her show My Big Fat Fabulous Life was born in January 2015, the first season was launched with ten episodes and later in September 2015, TLC aired the second season.
Who is Whitney Way Thore’s currently dating?
Thore has been in a couple of complicated romantic relationships throughout her journey as a reality television star. Buddy Bell who was Thore’s close friends since college has been a constant on every single season of My Big Fat Fabulous Life and is also one of Thore’s biggest supporters. Fans of the show have speculated the true nature of Buddy and Whitney’s relation over the years and have wondered if they were ever romantically involved with one another. Although they never confirmed any sort of romance between them, they often joked about getting married if they didn’t find a partner by 40 and remained good friends through thick and thin. They did however shared a kiss with one another by the end of season five.
Thore was also dating an artist by the name Lennie Alehat before parting way in 2016. However, Lennie returned for the tenth season of My Big Fat Fabulous Life, where he was seen helping Thore to shoot online fitness videos.
During the sixth season of My Big Fat Fabulous Life, Thore’s new love interest Chase Severino was introduced whom she started dating and the pair was seen navigating their relationship throughout the season from being each other’s crushes to dating. They later got engaged to in 2019 during their trip to Paris where Severino proposed in front of the Eiffel Tower.
Unfortunately, in May 2020 Thore took to Instagram to announce that Severino and her had called off the engagement after the reality star learned that Severino was involved with another woman with whom he was expecting a child.
In 2021 the 38 years old reality star introduced her new boyfriend on Instagram and shared several photos from Thore’s trip to France with her new romantic interest. However, respecting her partner’s wish for privacy, she ended up covering up his face in every single picture. The pair seemed happy together and was seen posingtogether in front of the Louvre and exploring the Parisian streets.
What are Whitney Way Thore’s other projects?
Apart from her reality show airing for ten seasons as of now, Thore has also launched a subscription-based fitness app known as No BS Active with partner Ryan Andreas. The main focus of the program was to stream workouts for all types bodies and fitness levels. After Thore split from Andreas’ friend and Thore’s fiancé, Chase Severino, No BS Active went on a hiatus. Luckily for the fans, in 2021, Thore announced No BS Active would soon be relaunched with her new business partner and trainer, Jessica Powell.
What is Whitney Way Thore Currently doing?
In August 9 2022, the brand-new season of My Big Fat Fabulous Life was launched where Whitney, unfortunately, gets the news of her mother getting a stroke. Later she receives a call from the hospital informing her that her mother tested positive for Covid-19 and the entire family was asked to be examined which ended up in her father and brother testing positive for Covid-19 as well. In the show Whitney gets emotional and opens up about her mother’s condition has not improved.
Season ten of the My Big Fat Fabulous Life will also be revolving around Thore struggling with her own fertility and trying to have a baby via surrogacy.