My 600-Lb Life's Most Controversial Stars

When viewers of My 600-lb Life on TLC tune into an episode, the hope is that they'll be let into the very personal world of someone weighing 600 or more pounds, who will start to turn their life around with the help of Dr. Now. Along the way it's normal for things to get emotional, as the stars are obviously not in a healthy place at the outset of the show. So a little bit of drama is expected as is maybe even a little contentiousness here and there, as the show's stars face the difficult obstacles standing in the way of their weight loss.

But once in a while, some of the patients on My 600-lb Life throw a curve ball, causing quite a bit more disruption and difficulty than their more compliant, less cantankerous counterparts. Whether it's picking fights with Dr. Now, sneaking food and lying about it, or refusing to change at the expense of their entire family, these sometimes belligerent individuals can cause a mountain of problems. So who among the stars of My 600-lb Life can call themselves the most controversial? Here's the dirt on the biggest offenders. 

When viewers first met Schenee Murry on My 600-lb Life, she was deeply sad about suffering through two miscarriages, which is totally understandable. That experience can be extremely traumatic to not just the person who endures one, but her partner as well, according to the American Psychological Association. Given that she was also sexually abused by a cousin when she was very young, it's no wonder that she turned to food for comfort.

But there was hope, as Murry went to Dr. Now to help her get both her life and her weight back under control. But alas, she was unwilling and unable to stop compulsively overeating. Despite her claims of gaining water weight, something Dr. Now pointed out was clearly not the case, Murry was never approved for weight loss surgery. She continued to eat foods that were not on Dr. Now's program, including a famously illicit pizza, and never dealt with her underlying emotional issues.

Despite leaving Dr. Now's care, Murry set up a GoFundMe for her weight loss surgery. She later filmed herself doing an eating challenge from her hospital bed. Oof.

Some patients on My 600-lb Life are so far gone that they are almost completely immobile, unable to care for themselves and confined to their bed because of their weight. That was the case for James King, who weighed in at 791 pounds at the beginning of his episode, as he used food to cope with his childhood trauma.

But it's hard to have too much sympathy for King, as throughout the episode it's shown that he behaved selfishly. For one, he had his daughter drop out of school so she could take care of him. And his father, despite the fact that he suffered a stroke, took out a second mortgage to finance his son's journey to Houston — but King refused to change. He was continually enabled by his girlfriend, Lisa, who couldn't stop bringing him food. It was so bad that Dr. Now called Adult Protective Services on her when he found out she brought food to him in the hospital in his follow-up episode, even though King had multiple organs failing him.

King had a GoFundMe page set up, but it's no longer active.

Of all of the stars on My 600-lb Life, Mercedes Cephas' story is among the most heartbreaking. When she was only 11 years old, her father began sexually abusing her, which caused her to have feelings of shame, guilt, and sadness. By the time she was 15 years old, she was up to 300 pounds, and using food to help her deal with the trauma of her assaults. Obviously, this had a huge impact on her life.

But when confronted about her eating habits by Dr. Now, Cephas insisted that she wasn't overeating — she said she just wasn't eating the right foods, even at 773 pounds. And when she finally did move to Houston months later, she had only dropped just under 50 pounds. Subsequently, she gained weight, showing she clearly was not following Dr. Now's program. And by the end of her episode, after she had only lost around 80 pounds altogether, Dr. Now was adamant that she be admitted into the hospital, giving her three days to decide.

Pauline Potter was already infamous before she appeared on My 600-lb Life. That's because she had herself certified as the World's Heaviest Woman in the 2011 Guinness Book of World Records, had appeared on Dr. Phil, and had made tabloid headlines when she said she lost weight "by having sex up to seven times a day with her ex-husband," according to Starcasm. 

By the time Potter got to Dr. Now's office, she weighed 678 pounds, and her health was beginning to really suffer because of it. But Potter was resistant, even telling Dr. Now that he was overreacting when he wanted her hospitalized to get her weight under control. Potter continued to be obstinate even after she had weight loss surgery, repeatedly butting heads with Dr. Now, much to the ire of viewers.

Fortunately Potter did eventually get herself together, and, in her follow-up episodes, managed to lose 300 pounds, with skin surgery being on the horizon. She also regularly updates her Facebook page, where she's looking slimmer and slimmer all the time. So while Potter might have been a handful to begin with, it looks like she's turned it all around.

Lisa Fleming started gaining weight when she was a child, thanks in part to a very punishing mother. But it was after she witnessed her brother's murder that her eating truly spiraled out of control, with no end in sight. By the time she signed up for My 600-lb Life, she weighed over 700 pounds, and was unable to take care of herself as she was confined to her bed.

As tragic as her backstory is, that's not what made Fleming so controversial. Rather, it was the discovery that she had maggots living in the folds of her skin that made her notorious, something that should have been a wake-up call. Instead, after losing weight under medical supervision, Fleming returned home and went back to her old habits. Eventually Dr. Now dismissed her from his program, as she refused to comply with his orders.

Tragically, Fleming passed away at the age of 50 on Aug. 23, 2018, according to Page Six. She is remembered lovingly by her family.

Anyone who's seen the My 600-lb Life double episode and follow-up episodes featuring Steven Assanti and his brother, Justin, can attest that he's quite possibly the most controversial star the show has ever seen. Namely, Assanti came off as manipulative because of the way that he treated both his family and the medical staff that was trying to help him.

For one, Assanti constantly manipulated his father into getting whatever he wanted, such as unhealthy foods, and bullied his brother repeatedly. He even went so far as to steal Justin's painkillers after he had weight loss surgery to fuel his own addiction. Additionally, he threw a jar of urine on the floor of the hospital, leaving it for a nurse to clean up. Assanti even caused Dr. Now to lose it, as he threatened to drop him off at a homeless shelter if he didn't stop his manipulative and erratic behavior.

Assanti seems to have calmed down since then, likely due to the fact that he got married, according to Starcasm. But it's hard to forget just how horrible he once was.