TLC
‘My 600-lb Life’ Star David Says Being Too Fat for Childhood Pageants Led to Overeating
Brotherhood is for life. On the next episode of My 600-lb Life, brothers David and Benji discuss their early childhood and the stressors that led to overeating during their adulthood. While both struggle with obesity now — that wasn’t always the case. Older brother David was heavier as a child, but younger brother Benji wasn’t and often competed in beauty pageants. David revealed how that negatively impacted his self-esteem and led to him eating even more.
“I was always different, bigger than everybody else. And I just took it as being normal. By the time I was six, I was already up to 100 pounds,” he explained. “But, I started to realize how different I was when my mom started entering my younger brother into these beauty pageants, and she wouldn’t let me do it.”
Of course, Benji remembers it a tad differently. “When I was really young, I remember doing beauty pageants with my mom,” Benji admitted. “And it was really fun because it was always like I was the center of attention. And I won a lot so I liked it.” David added, “And I never understood why wasn’t I good enough to be in those beauty pageants? And then I started to realize as I got older, it was because of my size. A fat kid can’t be in a beauty pageant… That’s not beautiful. I felt like my siblings were more valued than me because they were all off doing that beauty pageant stuff.”
David ended up relying on his great-grandmother for love and attention while his mother was focused on his siblings’ beauty pageants. Sadly, she passed away when he was still a child. “She was my best friend,” he said. “When she passed away, I didn’t have nobody. And the one thing that made me happy was food. When I ate I got bigger, and when any of that emotion started coming back I’d just eat some more. So, at age 10 I weighed around 145 pounds.”
Watch the video below for more My 600-lb Life stories.
Join our Facebook group for the latest news surrounding TLC’s My 600-lb Life!
Have a tip? Send it to us! Email In Touch at contact@intouchweekly.com.
