Do you remember Fat Families? If not, you’re in for a surprise.
The reality programme aired from January to December 2010 and, well, let’s just say it wouldn’t happen now…
Clips from the show have reappeared owing to the marvel that is TikTok, and the internet is shocked that such a show was ever approved.
An official synopsis for the show describes its format as: ‘Steve Miller moves into the homes of obese families with the aim of changing their lifestyles.’
Except, his approach was anything but gentle.
Sharing a clip from an old episode, one TikTok user pointed out how ‘wild’ British television was back in the day.
So, let’s unpack it…
‘I’m in Telford, Shropshire and I’m about to meet one of the fattest families I’ve met in my life,’ host Steve begins to the camera.
‘Too much time sat on their fat bums, that’s their problem, plain and simple’ he continues as he approaches their home.
‘If they don’t pull out their chubby fingers, they’ll be on the way to an early grave.’
The presenter appears at their home door after declaring that ‘enough is enough,’ and you are unprepared for his reception.
‘Hey, fatty!’ he said in a cheerful tone.
By the way, he was greeting a little child dressed in his school uniform.
And it doesn’t end there, as further clips demonstrate how insulting the show’s language was.
‘This is serious,’ he declares. ‘These parents’ kids are on a one-way road to Fatsville.’
Steve, dubbed the “binge buster,” then joins another family at the dinner table, resolving to do and eat whatever they do in order to get insight into their routines.
At one point, he joined his father on a late-night drive to the garage around the block to pick up food.
‘I just can’t believe it,’ Steve says.
‘He could’ve walked this journey in about 10 minutes and it might have gone some way to burning off the rubbish he’s about to stuff into his cake hole!’
Honestly, the whole thing is shocking and, as amusing as the internet found the comments, they were also stunned that they were made in the first place.
‘i don’t know how this ever aired on TV tbh 😭😭😭’, one person commented.
‘I thought this was a joke’, said another who was watching the show for the first time.
Another internet user wrote: ‘I’m glad they’ve banned this show 🤷♀️😂😂’
‘I forgot how bad this was !!’, said another.
‘This man is disgusting the way he talks and treats people’, blasted another.
Thankfully, Fat Families is no longer on our televisions in 2023.
Former contestants have also talked frankly about their experiences on the weight reduction programme, with one called Eileen Haddrell alleging she did not receive the assistance she expected.
Speaking to Vice in 2022, she said she applied in order to have access to dieticians, personal trainers, and doctors. However, she ended up feeling misrepresented in her episode.
Both she and Tarnya Cuff, another former participant, accused the show of ‘hamming it up’.
‘They made us go round the supermarket and throw things into the trolley that we wouldn’t put in the trolley,’ she said.
An anonymous crew member who worked on Fat Families also recalled producers ‘dialling up’ the amount contestants ate, saying things such as: ‘Why don’t you add a couple of extra sausages to your plate?’
The participants also stated that the diet plans they were given were ‘unsustainable’ in the long term since she was urged to cut out so much.
Cuff began using antidepressants after the episode aired because she began ‘berating’ herself while cooking, which had a negative influence on her mental state.
As for host Steve, well, he’s still going.
One look at his Twitter page shows you he was absolutely the only one who could’ve played the part Fat Families demanded, since he continues to tweet other people’s weight loss transformation photographs, applauding them for no longer being a ‘fatty’.
Some things, after all, never change.
Source My Celebrity Life.
