Samantha Mason is one of the most talked about participants from My 600-Lb. Life.
Appearing in Season 9, she became the show’s largest patient to date, weighing in at 940 pounds.
Her size restricted her to more traditional jobs, so she earned her income doing fetish modeling online and recording videos of herself eating.
Samantha contacted the show because she feared for her life and desperately wanted Dr. Nowzaradan’s help.
Through bariatric surgery, Samantha lost over 470 pounds within a year. While she appeared to be a success story on paper, Samantha later revealed her regret for being on the show.
When talking about her time on the show, Samantha said she felt the show simply wanted to exploit overweight people and accused producers of mistreating her during filming.
Samantha Mason regrets going on My 600-Lb. Life
Samantha attributes desperation to save her life as the only reason she reached out to the show. She said she felt she could die at any moment and wanted to do anything to prevent that.
Before agreeing to do the show, Samantha says she didn’t think things were as bad as they turned out to be for her. She feels the show intended to embarrass her and opened her up to receive judgment and hate from viewers. This often came in the form of harsh comments and criticism online.
Samantha accused producers of having ulterior motives for sharing her story. She also questioned the show’s credibility by stating many of her conversations with Dr. Nowzaradan were at least partially scripted – something she did not expect.
She says since her appearance, her family members have been contacted multiple times by the show despite refusing to give a statement or participate in any additional filming. Samantha also made it clear she wants nothing else to do with the show and pleads on social media for them to stop reaching out.
Where is Samantha Mason now?
Although she says she regrets doing the show, Samantha has continued with her weight loss journey.
She spent time in a rehab facility to help control her food cravings and addiction. She revealed that she’s now lost over 600 pounds and continues to work on maintaining a balanced diet.
Samantha has also gone to therapy and speaks openly about her struggles with depression and isolation. To prevent herself from using food to cope with these feelings, she has started to use art as an outlet instead.
She has become active on TikTok, often posting videos where she shares her experience being on the show. She has, however, disabled comments in an attempt to avoid negative responses.
My 600-Lb. Life premieres February 1, 2023, at 8/7c on TLC.