Whitney Way Thore Is ‘Freaking Out’ About Turning 40 in New Season of ‘My Big Fat Fabulous Life’ [Interview]
Whitney Way Thore is facing a milestone birthday and taking stock of where she is now – and where she hopes to be – in the new season of TLC’s My Big Fat Fabulous Life.
With her 40th birthday looming on the horizon, Thore is ready to say goodbye to her 30s in style with a big trip to sunny Spain. But as she looks forward to the next decade and continues to mourn the death of her beloved mother, she’s also in a reflective mood.
“It’s actually a really big impact on me,” Thore said of turning 40 during an interview with Showbiz Cheat Sheet. “And I think it’s unfortunate because I don’t want to be one of the stereotypical women freaking out about being 40, being single, and being childless. But I am definitely freaking out about it.”
Whitney Way Thore on how turning 40 is similar to ‘being fat’
Thore is an outspoken advocate for body positivity. She compared confronting society’s expectations for how women should be in their 40s to dealing with how she is treated as a fat woman.
“There are a lot of similarities with being fat,” she said. ”There’s a societal expectation of what fat women are and what fat women aren’t. And it’s the same thing with being 40. Like, all of a sudden there are perceptions and judgments and things placed on you by society. And that’s been difficult.”
Transitioning to middle age might not be easy, but Thore is approaching it with her usual good humor. She’s focused on the things that bring her happiness rather than dwelling on the negative.
“I think you’ve got to find the things that give you joy,” she said. “And I tried to do that this season, getting back into some dance classes and things like that.”
Finding that joy also means not letting other people’s ideas of where she should be get in her head.
“I just need to take all of that same work that I did about being fat and apply that to what society expects of me as a 40-year-old woman,” Thore said. “And maybe I don’t fit that mold. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t have a life that’s worth living and things to find joy in and excitement and to be optimistic about.”
‘My Big Fat Fabulous Life’ star on embracing her newfound family members and grieving her mom
Last season on My Big Fat Fabulous Life, Thore got the shock of a lifetime when she learned her father, Glenn Thore, had a secret daughter named Angie. Season 12 will highlight the growing relationship between Thore and her newfound relatives, including Angie’s daughter Jamie.
“We’ll see Angie in this season. We’ll see the whole family this season,” Thore promised. “My niece Jamie gets married, and so that was really fun. And I try to keep up with her, like, 25-year-old bridesmaids, which is difficult,” she added with a laugh.
Thore is also still mourning the death of her beloved mother, Barbara “Babs” Thore, who died in December 2022. The wounds from that loss are still raw.
“With my mom. I’m definitely still grieving. I think I’m actually having, like, delayed, grieving. It’s very difficult,” she said.
One thing that gives Thore comfort is knowing how much her mother meant to My Big Fat Fabulous Life fans.
“I still get messages every day about my mom,” she said, tearing up. “And people say, either, ‘Your mom is so wonderful. She reminds me of my mom.’ Or they say, ‘I didn’t have a mom. And your mom was like a mother to me.’ And I think, what a powerful, amazing woman to be able to mother people through a television screen.”
“It’s it’s so interesting to me how she is just able to be so amazing to so many people, all over the world,” Thore added. “I mean, who gets that? Who has that opportunity? So it’s just something I’m really grateful for … I miss her. I miss her a lot.”
My Big Fat Fabulous Life premieres Tuesday, July 9 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on TLC.
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