In a previous blog I addressed former supermodel Tyra Banks’ recent weight gain. In a follow up blog I wrote about how the current talk-show host used her show as a platform to lash out at tabloid editors who dubbed her “Tyra Porkchop” and “America’s Next Top Waddle.”
Did you see the show? I watched her rip into her critics and couldn’t help but cheer her on, though I did so in the confines of my own living room. Apparently, there were others out there that took their support for Tyra’s message a bit further. Producers of “The Tyra Banks Show” said they were flooded with calls and emails lending their support to the host. In addition, PEOPLE magazine, which ran a cover story on Banks’ weight-gain (“You Call This Fat?”), reported that they too received an “overwhelming amount” of letters and emails regarding their cover subject.
Touched by the “incredible” response Banks has decided to dedicate an entire show to the subject of “loving yourself as you are–no matter what size).” On Monday, February 26th, “The Tyra Banks Show” will feature an entire audience full of women of different shapes and sizes wearing the same red leotard. The show will mark the launch of Tyra’s new “So What?” campaign. Banks told reporters she wants to encourage women everywhere to say to themselves, “I’m not perfect — so what?!”
Speaking of celebrities and weight issues… “American Idol” winner Ruben Studdard is back on the road telling kids not to be like him. (In a previous blog I told you that the singer is now a spokesman for the Scale Back Alabama weight-loss campaign.) This week he took his fitness message to area schools.
“I don’t want y’all to be like me. I don’t want y’all to get to college and stop working out and forget all the things you have to do to be healthy,” Studdard told students at Montgomery’s Capitol Heights Junior High School.
“I want y’all to continue working out for the rest of your life so you don’t have to start all over like Ruben Studdard, trying to get yourself back into shape,” he said.
To his credit, Studdard has shed nearly 100 pounds since winning the “Idol” title.
According to health studies, Studdard’s home state of Alabama consistently ranks near the top of the nation’s list for obesity.
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“American Idol” Winner Turns Into Big Loser