My 600-Lb Life: What Happened To Annjeanette Whaley After Season 7?
The road to health and wellness as portrayed by "My 600-lb Life" is often fraught with personal conflict and psychological roadblocks. Annjeannette Whaley's story is no exception to that rule. Weighing in at 679 during her Season 7 appearance, she seeks the help of weight loss surgeon Dr. Younan Nowzaradan. To achieve her weight loss goals and convince Dr. Now she has the gumption to stick to her weight loss, she confronts the psychological trauma left behind by the early death of her mother from a drug overdose. With her large and loving family rooting her on, Whaley qualifies for Dr. Now's program and has weight loss surgery.
As she continues to exercise and lose weight, Whaley appears to have a difficult relationship with her girlfriend, Erica Andino. The two of them seem to break up at the end of her episode, something that Whaley has explained on Facebook was the result of the show's editorial choices.
Since her Season 7 appearance, Annjeannette has continued to lose weight and appears to be getting closer than ever to her goal. She keeps an active presence on Facebook, where she catalogs her musings about life, her weight loss journey, and her family — including twin sons from a previous relationship — and has a less-used Instagram account. But her life hasn't been all sunshine and happiness, especially when it comes to her relationship with Megalomedia, the production company behind "My 600-lb Life."
Things between Annjeanette and TLC have been tense
Annjeannette Whaley has experienced some wonderful personal successes since her time on "My 600-lb Life" concluded. Aside from her successful weight loss, she and Erica Andino announced their engagement in October 2022. But Whaley's life hasn't been all smooth sailing since TLC stopped filming her.
In April 2020, she sued the production company behind "My 600-lb Life," asking for $1 million in damages. She accuses Meglomedia of negligence, gross negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and fraud. Whaley says producers working for "My 600-lb Life" placed her on an extreme starvation diet in a quest for ratings. She also accuses Megalomedia of failing to provide her with psychological counseling, psychologically manipulating her family, and refusing to financially compensate her for her medical expenses after promising to do so. There has since been no update on the case, which sees Whaley joining a growing number of cast members, including David Bolton, Maja Radanovic, Gina Krasley, Jeanne Covey, Dorothy Perkins, the estate of L.B. Bonner, and Nicole Lewis, who've pursued legal action against Megalomedia.
There appears to be no love lost between her and TLC; though the show may have saved her life and set her on a new path, Whaley admitted that she wished she hadn't done "My 600-lb Life." She told a Facebook commenter in July 2023, "Only benefit that came from the show is [I'm] alive... some might [have] different [opinions] but [as] for me that show is nothing but lies and simply the devil [in disguise]." There's no telling if she'll feel differently about the experience after some time passes, but at least being on the show managed to give her a fresh lease on life.