Meghan And Tina On Getting More Vulnerable In 1000-Lb Best Friends Season 2 - Exclusive Interview
TLC fans were first introduced to Meghan Crumpler on "Too Large," a series she starred in alongside one of her best friends, Vannessa Cross. In the show, the friends struggled to lose weight, and they have continued that endeavor in "1000-lb Best Friends." Crumpler and Cross are joined by their other friends Tina Arnold and Ashley Sutton in "1000-lb Best Friends" as the dynamic crew supports one another and strives to achieve a healthy lifestyle.
Going into Season 2 of "1000-lb Best Friends," Arnold and Crumpler are housemates and besties while Crumpler stays with Arnold and her family. The pair have been inseparable since they were young and have continued to be there for each other throughout some of their most challenging times. They've continued to push themselves in their weight-loss journeys and in opening up to show the audience some of their most vulnerable experiences. During an exclusive interview with The List, they discussed what it's been like sharing personal moments with the public and how their friendship has stayed strong over the years.
How they've changed since Season 1
Going into Season 2, how do you two feel you've changed since the start of the show?
Tina Arnold: I'm probably the one that has changed the most because I held back a lot of who I am in Season 1 out of fear. I got permission from my family to just be myself going into Season 2, so I opened up a lot more on Season 2. You're going to get to know more about me and my personality in Season 2. That has probably been the biggest change — me opening up.
Meghan Crumpler: The biggest change for me would probably be self-love, loving myself a little bit more. I struggle with body dysmorphia. I don't know if that will ever go away, but I'm starting to appreciate and know that I'm worthy of everything else that everybody else has in life.
Do you feel like opening up about those challenges is helping people watching the show?
Arnold: Oh, definitely.
Crumpler: Most definitely. Some people, I'm sure, think I cry a lot, which I do. But I'm very proud of that badge because I feel like crying means you're alive, and it's okay to show emotions and not to be okay. Some people see me cry, but that's just who I am. I wear my heart on my sleeve, and I'm a very emotional person.
What would you say was the biggest challenge for you this season?
Arnold: Weight loss. That's always the biggest challenge for a fat girl.
Crumpler: I'd say obviously weight loss, but at the same time, having to take ownership of things and not letting obstacles get in my way, even though certain health conditions and things like that [make it challenging] because [not] everybody who's fat [has] the same problems. Some of my issues [are] my lungs and the medications that I take. [But] I feel I get in my own way, if that makes sense. That's probably been my biggest obstacle.
Arnold: My biggest obstacle this season was learning how to open up because I'm very closed off. I only allow very few people and a certain set of people to know who I really am. Opening up and being vulnerable was probably my biggest obstacle.
How their friendship has helped them through their hardest times
You two have been friends for years. How have you been able to keep that friendship so close and not grow apart over that time?
Arnold: We love each other.
Crumpler: Yeah. It's just like any other relationship; whether you're married or you're best friends, it's about commitment and wanting to be present in that relationship and wanting it to be successful. You don't give up on each other. We do butt heads, definitely, but I would die for her too.
Arnold: At some point, it became a sisterhood instead of best friends. I can barely remember life before Meghan, so it's like she's my sister, and that's how it stays. Can't give up on your sister.
Crumpler: Nope.
How do you feel having each other has helped you in getting through hard times, both in the show and prior to that?
Arnold: Meghan was with me in the darkest times of my life as a teenager. I always say it's like she was my angel because in the darkest times, I would look up, and there she was, and it was like a light in a dark time. Moving into adulthood, it's pretty much the same. If I'm ever going through something, she's there to bring me out of it and to help me through it, always.
Crumpler: You're going to make me cry. [I'm getting] teary-eyed hearing her talk. I'm just me. But Tina does the same for me. For the longest time, I shut myself off from the world because I was so big, and I almost stopped growing. It was like I was a hermit. And Tina teaches me ... I'm trying to think of how to say it.
Arnold: To step out of her comfort zone.
Crumpler: Yeah. I had to realize there are so many things that I can do, but I have so much self-doubt, [even] for the simplest things. When I moved in with her, I used to struggle with getting up on a curbside because my balance was off for so many years, and I would have to have someone help me on the curb. And now, I walk that curb like it's nothing. It's the little things that she says. Or I'm afraid to sit behind a driver's seat or buckle my seatbelt. It's the little things where she's like, "You just need to try. You can't put yourself in a little box."
Arnold: I'm the voice in her ear telling her, "You can do it. You can do it! And if you don't do well, I'll be there to pick you up and take you to the emergency room."
Sharing vulnerable moments on the show
This show gives people a look into some very personal parts of your lives. What has that been like for you to open up and share all of that?
Crumpler: It's hard.
Arnold: That's been the hardest part for me because, as I said, I am a very closed-off person. I keep my circle small. I have really sheltered myself and my children away from the world before this show. Coming into the show threw me into having to put everything out there and let everybody see everything. It's been very tough because people that you don't even know now know about you.
Crumpler: For me, I felt like I didn't have a choice. It was a life-or-death situation for me at the beginning. I originally did a show called "Too Large" with Vannessa [Cross], and I was pretty much ... I would've died if I had not sought help. In my head, I had to say, "Okay, you can be embarrassed for 15 minutes and be vulnerable, the most vulnerable you've ever been, or you can die." And I chose to be embarrassed for a little bit. I chose to say, "This is who I am." And I realized that there are so many other "Here I ams" out there in this world. For every negative person, there are so many other people who go, "Thank you. Thank you for doing this because I'm not alone. I don't feel alone anymore."
Arnold: You gave them a voice.
Crumpler: Yeah. As difficult as it still is to do this, I would not have it any other way. I love what we do.
Arnold: I love what we do too.
Crumpler: And I miss it when I'm not doing it. It's motivating and it's empowering, and it helps me mentally. I like being able to share my story.
Arnold: It's freeing.
Crumpler: I enjoy what we do very, very much. It's very freeing because you're like, "Here I am, world. Here are my scars, and it's okay to have scars."
Arnold: Yes.
Crumpler: It's okay to be different.
Their nerves about Season 2
How are you both feeling with Season 2 coming out? Are you looking forward to it? Are there any nerves about it?
Arnold: I am very nervous. I'm not even sure if I'm going to watch it on opening night or if I'm going to let Meghan watch it first.
Crumpler: Yeah, you better. I am nervous as heck, as nervous as possible, because we film it, but we don't know exactly what goes in [and] what doesn't. It's scary, with a whole year's worth of your life.
Arnold: You say something, and then you keep filming, and you forget. You're like, "Oh my god. Did I do that?"
Crumpler: You're like, "Did I really say that? Did I just show my a**? Oh, my heavens." It's strange. It's scary. I will probably set my alarm clock to get up at the crack of dawn and watch it on Discovery.
Arnold: I don't know. I'm excited about it, but I am nervous. As soon it hits the air, I will probably watch it and freak out.
Watch "1000-lb Best Friends" Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on TLC.
This interview has been edited for clarity.