goodbyeglittergirl

So I was really excited by the prospect of this episode, because I LOVE the Fitness Marshall. He really lives out body positivity and his exercise videos on YouTube are really fun. I went to one of his "cardio concerts" (what Whit was calling a workshop) about a month ago and LOVED it. Now, that said, I am not in great shape. I do Fitness Marshall videos about 3 times a week for about 30 minutes at a time, but I am overweight and consider myself out of shape. I did the ENTIRE cardio concert, full out, and did not puke. So I am not really buying the Todd puking from exertion deal unless he was hungover or getting over a bug or something. I am an exercise puker from way back and I was TOTALLY fine. I wish he'd gotten more screen time as something other than a Whit-fan so that people could see more of him for who he is - because he's fabulous. I thought Todd acted like an ahole this episode but assume that's for dramatic purposes.

I was really hoping the lip sync would end in a double elimination. That was a snoozefest.

In their defense, UNCC is probably a flat hour from where they live in Greensboro - so it's not like they had to hop on a plane or even inconvenience themselves very much. Also, Glenn was here in Charlotte with her when she did the St. Patrick's Day parade and he was THRILLED to be recognized, so I imagine they are enjoying their 15m of fame, too!

I feel like of all of the things to mock about this show, this is maybe not that kind? As someone who also has PCOS, my initial wish for MBFFL was "wow - maybe this show will help people understand what I deal with - facial hair, thinning hair, extremely heavy and painful periods, inability to lose weight, etc etc." Clearly that's not how the show went, but maybe we could lay off of the things that people with this disorder can't control? Gotta run, off to shave my chin - b/c the only thing worse than you being able to mock chin scabs would be you having to see my facial hair, amirite? Ugh.

2 things of note: * If you are in the Charlotte, NC area, Whitney is giving a public speech at UNC-Charlotte Thursday night at 7. I have my kids that night and cannot be sure that Whitney will not be inappropriate so I will not be going - otherwise I would check it out and report back to you ;-) * Caleb Marshall (The Fitness Marshall) is going to be on the April 4th ep of MBFFL and I AM EXCITED ABOUT THAT because if ever there was someone I'd like to see have his own show, it's Caleb.

I feel for Mauri because she is nervous and withdrawn and it comes across as snotty - I have this same issue, and people think I am uppity when I'm actually just really, really anxious. I hope something turns for her soon because she's making me sad. Don - seems like a ticking time bomb. Also I cannot handle listening to him.

Man, my DVR did not capture this ep and I can't even find it using the search features. Clearly some sort of issue. Thankfully they will replay at some point!

I was hoping for Miss D and the Dancing Dolls to BUST onto the scene in Greensboro and take over that dance battle. Alas, it did not happen. I am in the home market for that terrible radio show and it is, indeed, the worst. Charlotte is actually the home to 3 pretty popular syndicated morning radio shows, John Boy and Billy, Bob and Sheri, and Ace and TJ (who were the predecessors to Maney, Roy, etc. on KISS 95.1 before they were let go and they moved to another station.) Other radio shows have a hard time competing. So to answer your question: do people listen? Yes. Are a lot of people listening? Not really. I listened to their show when I had a loaner car from my dealership and it was awful. I feel like Roy might be an okay dude (*might*), but the rest of them seem like assholes and the show is inane. (Don't get excited - the other 3 shows I listed up there aren't that awesome either - but they are popular.) I thought both groups did okay. Trophy Wives were very typically dance battle-y. Whitney's group's choreography seemed very static and repetitive - I couldn't tell a whole lot of difference between the various stands. Were I Whitney, I think I might review the dance footage and realize that my size was causing me to be unable to really fully dance anymore - there are lots of moves she just can't do. I thought Todd's comment about the dances not requiring a lot of flexibility to be really telling! He's right. I was not surprised by the results. I did find it weird that Whitney had no idea what you could/couldn't do in a dance battle, or how it worked. Girl, do some research. We have actual dance battle teams in Charlotte - I'm sure you could have gotten some tips. But I think she wanted to come across as clueless so that when they lost, she could claim ignorance.

I'm glad I gave this show a second chance - this episode was much better than the first!

Totally true. And likewise, when Jenzi started hollering at the BGDC girls (which she probably felt was what she was being brought in to do - whip them into shape for this battle) it's Whitney's job to say, "Nope, that's not how we do things." At the very least, she should have said "OK BGDC, if you're going to battle we have to get really serious for a minute and let Jenzi get us ramped up - if you are not into that, it's totally okay for you to back out of this performance." These girls are not there with aspirations of being awesome, technical, competitive dancers. Re: the restaurant, it was Mac's Speed Shop - the chain has a shop in Greensboro. And I don't blame Jenzi for the disappointment - I am not a fan. Except you notice they did not get her opinion of the banana pudding - because no one in their right mind would say it's bad. It's delish. I was surprised they didn't take her to a real local BBQ place as there are zillions of awesome ones in Greensboro, but most are VERY mom-and-pop at best and old south-ish at worst so I wondered if maybe they wouldn't allow filming.

I think they are inconsistent. I am on a mailing list, so I get informed whenever there's a class going on, but it's very sporadic. And I'm not sure if those are just classes being taped, or classes being done outside of the schedule. I've only been able to attend one. But usually when I get notified, the classes are on Sunday afternoons - when the dance academy is closed. So I don't get the feeling this is a regular, every Thurs night class or something. In my opinion, both Jiya and Whitney's classes are less DANCE classes and more dance fitness classes. Which is why I don't care to be screamed at. If I started taking legit ballet classes or something, I would expect to be admonished for technique, etc. I spent many years in my youth getting yelled at by music instructors and dance instructors and etc. - I don't care to repeat those experiences as a grown-ass woman! :-)

Just wanted to point out that this thread has highlighted the paradox of eating-while-fat. Eat something? "You're so gross. Do you know the calorie count? How many fat grams are in that?" Don't eat something, or specifically eat something like a salad or fruit? "Who are you kidding? Are you going to go pound a plate of pasta over your sink later?" It doesn't matter what Whitney might eat on camera - it will piss someone off. I was shocked she was able to horseback ride. I have a daughter really into horses and so we try to do a trail ride or something on vacations. I am in the low 200's and always have to be really careful to check and make sure the stable we want to visit will allow me to ride - most have really strict weight limits. My guess is that it was a really, really short walk around on the horse - just enough to film - and that was it. Whitney's smooching partner in this ep is super cute. I enjoyed her. As someone pointed out above, Whitney would never lose any of her BGDC members to Jiya's Trophy Wife class, because it's not an insubstantial commute from Charlotte to Greensboro. Even though Jiya's class is accessible to me, though, since I live in Charlotte - there is not a CHANCE I would take a class there. I don't enjoy public shaming and the idea that I would get yelled at in class for not getting low enough or doing something well enough is NOT my idea of a good time. No thanks. I will say from taking Whitney's class that while it was not the most challenging dance class, it was a very welcoming and supportive atmosphere. I was bummed that Whitney wasn't in Charlotte this past weekend to do a class with The Fitness Marshall, who held 2 "cardio concerts" this weekend down here. I thought that would be a good fit for her and they have been on social media together before, so I sort of thought she might be around.

In spite of everything, I still really like Whitney. I'm starting to feel really bad for her, even though I know it's her own doing. I mean, if you've sold your soul to TLC for a paycheck, and they are asking you to fake all these storylines and stuff, what do you do? She seems trapped. And I can understand - she wasn't making a ton of money until this show made her a reality star - so how do you turn your back on this? But she seems less and less happy with what she's being asked to do. I have to imagine that the Whitney we've seen would have responded to the fat shamer guy by saying "hey douchebag, I have my own TV show, so kiss my ass!" But instead she's being asked to be hurt by it, pretend to be pregnant, push too hard on Roy at work, etc. Nothing seems genuine and she just seems trapped. I think it would be great for her to get on something like "Dancing with the Stars" - it would jump start weight loss, she clearly does love dancing, and it would be something she could participate in outside of TLC. Honestly, she needs to begin a weight loss journey and what better place to do that than on her own TV show? It would be really relatable to watch her deal with the ups and downs of losing weight as a PCOS patient. She doesn't love her body less if she decides to get healthier.

I don't know the exact air date - I just know it's "spring." Sadly, I don't live in my old hometown so no scoop for me, but I am wishing her the best! I'm just excited to see someone from home on RPDR!!!

Y'all, one of the contestants for season 9 is from my podunk small TN hometown! I AM SO EXCITED FOR HER! I don't thinks she'll win - a) she's a big girl, and we know how that goes and b) she's not super polished, BUT regardless, I hope this sends her career soaring! Don't get sent home first, Eureka!

I have to add - I think it's really tone deaf to pursue this storyline if it's a false positive. To drag it out week after week is gagalicious. Let's assume she really did get a false positive - then take 1 ep to go to the doctor, discover it's false, talk about how PCOS patients get false positives, talk about her conflicted emotions about the news, etc. End of storyline. If it's not false, and she winds up miscarrying, then again - don't drag it out! It is cruel. Use it as a chance to talk about how PCOS patients have staggering miscarriage rates, talk about what PCOS folks can do when they are trying to conceive to up their chances of the pregnancy sticking, talk about Whitney's emotions about losing the pregnancy, etc - but don't drag it out.

Typically, an OBGYN familiar with their patient (knowing they have PCOS,) would want her to come in as soon as possible to a) test for pregnancy themselves and b) get her on Metformin (a drug diabetics take but can also be prescribed for insulin resistance and is almost always prescribed to pregnant PCOS'ers because it dramatically reduces the chance of miscarriage, which is high.) I can't imagine them letting her hang for a week with this - that's frustrating. Unless, of course, it's all for dramatic storyline. I really dislike Lennie. I know he's never done anything to me, but he is so stone-faced that it bothers me. I was glad when they broke up and am sad he's back on my TV screen. Oh good, another chance for Whitney to come on down here to Charlotte and get fat-shamed. UGH. Typically the PRIDE crowd is so upbeat and kind, I have a hard time believing that to be anything but a plant. Much like I still believe people talking about her weight at the St. Patrick's Day parade here were also plants.

I feel pretty certain the woman in question had plenty of visible changes in her body, even if she did not "show" with a basketball tummy like someone tiny would. Her pregnancy was probably still "cool" to her in spite of her obesity - even fat women get to feel their babies kick. I am not trying to be rude, your response just sort of rubbed me the wrong way. Like - oh bless that fat lady's heart, she didn't even get a cool pregnancy. If Whitney is pregnant, I hope the show uses is an opportunity to review some of the complications PCOS patients deal with during a pregnancy - increased miscarriage rates, increased preeclampsia rates, increased gestational diabetes rates, etc. It's not a cakewalk and you have to be very careful and get good medical care - and even that does not rule out complications. For so many of us, PCOS is an obstacle and once we are pregnant, we're like WOOHOO! BABY! - but there's plenty of stuff still to deal with. This is one of the things I've been disappointed about with this show - so many women have PCOS, why not use this platform to really educate people about it instead of just showing us Whitney on skis?

I am SO SAD this could be the last episode. Please, please let it come back. I will miss Matt, but there's still so much more content out there, I just know it!

I am displeased with the casting of the Gilmore Girls actress. I'm hoping she won't take away from the rest of the performances, because so far I think the rest of the cast is solid, though I agree with the age issues associated with the Commander and Serena Joy.

This was not my most favorite episode of all time. First, I just can't with the handicam work. So I spent a lot of time not being able to look at the screen. I somehow entirely missed Lee meeting the witch. Who knows? At any rate, I am interested to see next week's show just for closure, but I thought it ended fairly flat.

I wish I hadn't deleted the episode after I watched it, b/c I had no idea that was Finn. That is crazy! I feel that now that Lee's confessed to murder (though seriously, how did she do that?) she won't be the one to survive. But I applaud Lee's moxie this episode! I would really love to see the psychic Leslie Jordan guy and Denis O'Hare return in some capacity. I love them so much. Kathy Bates, you were missed in this episode. I love you so much I considered seeing Bad Santa 2 before I came to my senses.

I would watch anything Alyssa does. Are you listening WoW? Seriously, she is a STAR.

I forgot to list these two items: 1) The handicam work, while necessary for the conceit, makes me motion sick so I have to sort of watch those scenes out of the corner of my eye. It means I miss some details but it's better than puking. 2) I thought the "made for tv" characters were scary - the witch, the butcher, Mott, etc. - I was shocked at how much scarier their "real life" counterparts were. Grittier and grimier and scarier.

I was glad to have a solid reason that Matt came back (the pull of the forest witch.) Less glad to see him get his head bashed in! Yikes. I'm going to predict Lee as last (wo)man standing - only she'll be standing without at least 1 leg. I don't really have a lot of sympathy for any of them because again, WHY WOULD YOU COME BACK TO THIS HOUSE? Also at one point, someone says they need to get to town and town is "5 miles away" - uh, 5 miles. Let's go. It's not 500 miles. I would even consider walking 500 miles. Or 500 more (little joke there.) Not that bad, compared to the horror you have behind you.