Tammy Slaton is a YouTuber and reality TV star, known mostly for the wrong reasons, having carved out a career path by relying on a severely unhealthy lifestyle that has made her one of the heaviest human beings on the planet. Viewers from all around the world couldn’t stop tuning in to her YouTube channel and the “1000-lb Sisters” TV series by TLC, compelled to watch someone apparently willingly kill themselves over a long period of time.
The fame and wealth derived from publicized suffering made life easier for Tammy and Amy Slaton nonetheless, allowing them to substantially increase the number of calories they consume in a single, often lengthy sitting. The sisters also went on to find love, or at least try to, and Tammy seemed to have succeeded after meeting Caleb Willingham at an obesity rehab center in November 2022.
However, the hard reminder that such a lifestyle is unsustainable and leads to early death came way too early into their relationship, when Tammy’s newfound husband passed away on 1 July 2023, at the age of mere 40. She has been in even greater throes following her husband’s untimely death, and her existence went back to being the not-so-enviable experience that everyone came to know her for.
Those aware of the innate selfishness and horrible habits of the Slaton sisters had few words of sympathy to spare, saving them only for the unwitting man who left this world way too soon. It could be said that the sisters relied more on notoriety than actual content creation to find their initial crumbs of fame on YouTube, thus birthing an air of repulsion that they are yet to make up for.
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Who really are the 1000-lb (455-kg) sisters?
Tammy and Amy Slaton began y appearing frequently together on Amy’s YouTube channel in 2014, hoping to get their own chunk of internet fame and live off their subscribers. Although the channel had its origins in 2011, it remained relatively dormant until three years later, when the sisters commenced a regular upload schedule. To be precise, Amy took on the role of recording and uploading, while Tammy almost always accompanied her in the videos.
The sisters’ noticeable excess weight but surprisingly carefree demeanor had them seemingly display a self-assured and easygoing vibe in spite of their obvious lacks, which pleasantly surprised most viewers at the time. This gradually led them to amass a devoted audience, who had great expectations of the duo, and wanted to aid in their quest for a healthier existence.
The video that propelled them into the limelight and flooded their inbox with millions of direct messages in just a matter of days is entitled “Chubby bunny challenge,” uploaded on 10 November 2014. The challenge entailed both sisters stuffing as many marshmallows into their mouths as possible, uttering ‘chubby bunny’ after each one. The game persisted until one of them either swallowed or spat out the slimy white mass.
While both sisters were grappling with severe weight problems at that time, what made them truly distinctive was the accumulation of adipose tissue in Tammy’s forehead, lending her skull an inflated appearance and unusual head shape. However, the sisters consistently exuded a friendly and laid-back disposition regardless of the notable hardships, which kept their viewers coming back for more.
‘1000-Lb. Sisters’ star Tammy Slaton reveals dramatic weight loss https://t.co/g4ffiO0ROR pic.twitter.com/Wyt0yyIcPJ
— Page Six (@PageSix) March 9, 2023
Unbeknownst to the Slatons at the time, some of their regular video stories were far from ordinary and socially acceptable. The earliest example of this was by far the most innocent one, when Amy confessed to the entire world that she had been apprehended for shoplifting when she attempted to sneak a $7 book out of Walmart.
Though not particularly grave in nature, this petty transgression set a foreboding precedent for the questionable acts the duo would commit throughout their YouTube journey. Naturally, few paid much heed to it back then, aside from perhaps Amy being given a few bullet points on behavior. New fans continued to tune in, leaving the sisters with countless supportive comments on nearly every video, eventually leading them to let down their guard and reveal their true character.
What did they do that was so bad?
The transgressions of the Slaton sisters deserve their own few articles, but most of those familiar with them are aware of the worst things they had done since becoming famous. The frequency and severity of these acts became more apparent as the sisters accumulated the trust of their audience, proving the old proverb that suggests power brings out one’s real personality.
Their despicable side first reared its head when Amy voiced concerns about her camper’s AC system in 2014, which had been damaged by their unruly dog, resulting in bites to her thigh and forearm. The sisters thus decided to take the canine to the local pound for observation, due to its aggressive behavior. If the dog’s violent tendencies persisted, they considered putting it down or finding it a new home.
Their actions seem reasonable at first glance – who would want to be attacked by their own dog? There’s more to the story, however, as Amy had left the German Shepherd she recently adopted alone in a camper without airflow, in scorching midday heat. She claimed the AC was on, but the dog wouldn’t have needed to damage it if that were the case. A single look at Amy’s overall lifestyle suggested a lack of responsibility, the most crucial factor for dog ownership.
Their negligence towards pets extended further, as seen when they left their new dog, Little Bit inside a hot car without AC. It was only thanks to Tammy’s alleged occasional visits to provide the dog with ice water that it didn’t suffer severe consequences.
In spite of her obvious lack of care for the poor animal, Amy claimed to consider Little Bit as her own daughter, and was apparently crushed by the chihuahua’s cancer-related passing at 22. This blatant hypocrisy pervaded throughout sister’s actions, causing their audience to turn away in great numbers.
Later on, the Slaton sisters used their influence as content creators to solicit money from fans, counting on other people’s hard work to fuel their decadent habits of drowning in calories and not doing anything to take care of themselves. While most YouTubers offer memberships or Patreon pages with extra perks, the sisters simply asked for donations.
One instance involved Amy creating a GoFundMe page to raise money for a MacBook to improve video editing quality, but many fans were rightfully outraged by this request, believing the sisters should earn a living like everyone else. The difference lay in the effort – most content creators dedicate significant time and effort to entertain their audience, while the Slaton sisters seemed to merely record and upload, so what did they actually need high-quality editing for?
Amy attempted to deflect blame by claiming it wasn’t her or Tammy’s idea, but rather a friend’s suggestion to gauge the reaction. Few bought this excuse though, since it was as unconvincing as their various tall tales of why they remain unemployed.
They had collected over $800 by the time the GoFundMe page was taken down, which was never refunded in spite of being a substantial sum for many viewers. Whoever asked for their money back at the time was outright ignored by the duo, who acted as though they’d never received anything.
In another shocking revelation, Amy casually discussed a date with an autistic man that ended poorly. She attempted to give him a hickey during their encounter, but the young man misunderstood the intention due to being unfamiliar with the practice, subsequently accusing her of biting him. Amy promptly became infuriated with the situation, at which point she actually bit him. The fiasco ended with Slaton sharing his phone number online, followed by various expletives and derogatory remarks about his manhood.
The sisters also faced criticism for soliciting money without transparency about their financial situation, as they told the audience that YouTube was their only source of income. They were in fact receiving disability checks the entire time, both for their weight, and Amy also for her poor eyesight. They sold merchandise as gifts for donations instead of goods for money, which allowed them to evade taxes and keep all the money for themselves.
This fraud came to a halt when it was revealed that they weren’t paying the artists who designed the items they were selling. Tammy’s TikTok account with over one million followers was permanently banned for fraudulent activity in the wake of the scandal, bringing at least some semblance of justice to their victims.
Finally, the most abhorrent example of the sisters’ utter moral disregard took place when Amy initiated a GoFundMe campaign for Tammy’s funeral while she was still alive, citing the inability to afford the funeral, even though their income should have covered it.
She claimed that Tammy needed an unusually large coffin, which she insisted was exorbitantly priced. The campaign was presented as a financial safety net, but Amy promised that 100% of the funds would go solely toward the funeral, later claiming that the money was given to her mother to cover Tammy’s bills, but the story changed when asked for receipts, leaving fans skeptical.
Facing hardship, for real this time
It became a riddle whether anything except weight is truly bad in the sister’s lives, ever since their media presence became sensationalized in TLC’s “1000-lb Sisters” in 2020. They were lucky enough for their notoriety to have reached some of the most prolific reality TV producers, which some argue is all that the sisters could ever have hoped for.
Receiving wads of cash for moving less frequently than a cactus by allowing the camera to be shoved in the faces they keep stuffing with carbohydrates and heavily processed junk food, initially seemed like a blissful existence for the sisters. However, the less-hated of the two, Tammy, had plans for actually improving her situation.
It became apparent that the heavier sister was really keen on turning her life around as the show progressed, with the TV star eventually finding herself at the Windsor Lane Rehabilitation Center, in Gibsonburg, Ohio USA. She entered the facility in the fall of 2022, to try and cut her weight down to the maximum allowed for bariatric surgery, and that’s when Caleb Willingham, undergoing obesity treatment at the time, entered the picture.
The two apparently felt instant chemistry and hit it off, in spite of the rather unappealing circumstances they had found themselves in. Caleb proposed to his new girlfriend after dating for only a short while, and they became engaged in late October 2022, married the very next month on 19 October, at the rehab facility, due to both still undergoing therapy.
It turned out to be a rather humble and private event, held in the company of approximately 30 friends and some of the facility staff. By all apparent accounts, it was true love that Tammy found in the confines of her dietary choices. The more experienced fans, however, knew that something would be amiss sooner or later, as is most often the case with the infamous sisters.
Not meant for happiness
Tammy became dissatisfied with what she had yet again, approximately five months from the moment they made the vows. Her reason for starting the divorce process was that Caleb failed to follow the strict rules outlined for his diet, as reported in an insider interview with The Sun.
It was then that Tammy’s lack of posts involving Willingham on social media began to make sense, considering the fact that her Instagram page only featured her own self throughout their entire relationship. In fact, she stopped posting for almost a year in March 2022, resuming in February 2023.
Her only upload featuring Caleb took place on 1 July 2023 – the day of his passing. It showcased four pictures of the former couple, all taken on the same day, and three in the exact same hugging position, just a few seconds apart. She had obviously disabled commenting on the post, since fans were quick to note that even this upload made it clear how much she didn’t actually care about her husband.
Willingham passed away due to still undisclosed complications, but some believe that his life got much worse after Tammy decided to split up from him, which potentially could’ve led him to an even less healthy lifestyle, and exacerbated his already severe condition. His family refused to comment on the details surrounding the tragedy, while Tammy seems to have moved on as though nothing had happened, as she’s busy posting fan comment reply videos to her social media.
The fourth season of “1000-lb Sisters” already aired in early 2023, and the fifth is set for the start of 2024, meaning that no tragedy has yet caused such damage to the sisters that they would leave the money and fame behind. Their list of true priorities looks to have remained as superficial as ever, though admittedly with some noticeable progress in their weight loss.
