“My Big Fat Fabulous Life” had a few ordinary folks who enjoyed a bit of fame and fortune due to their participation in the show, including Lennie Alehat. Viewers developed an interest in him when he became the boyfriend of Whitney Way Thore, the main star of the reality-television series in its earlier seasons, aired on the TLC cable network. The romantic relationship didn’t last long, and most fans thought that being back as friends was better for the two. Rumors abounded online about the former couple reuniting in the 10th season of the series, which started airing this August 2022.
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All about the show
“My Big Fat Fabulous Life” was launched on 13 January 2015, and captured the interest of both American and international viewers for nine seasons. It’s centered on the life of a 380-lb woman named Whitney Thore, along with her friends and loved ones.
Origins of the TV series
When smartphones became accessible and the technology for point-and-shoot cameras improved, vlogging became a mainstream activity. In 2015, Whitney’s video called “Fat Girl Dancing: Talk Dirty to Me” went viral online. At that time, she was still working for the local radio show “Jared & Katie in the Morning” at 107.5 KZL. Her staff found her dancing skills amazing, despite her hefty size, and thought it would generate interest online – it sure did, as the video gained about eight million views not long after it was posted on YouTube. Her other dance videos attracted more viewers, and she uplifted the morale of those with plus-sized bodies. TLC network took notice, and created the reality-TV series entitled “My Big Fat Fabulous Life” for her.
The main star of the show – Whitney
Whitney Way Thore was from Greensboro, North Carolina; when she was in college, she was diagnosed with a medical condition called Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, or PCOS, and was the reason why she gained so much weight in just a short time. Despite the physical limitation, she never let it hinder her from living a full, fun, and fabulous life, hence the title of the show. To inspire more people, she offered Big Girl dance classes, and launched the online app No BS Active, in which people of all sizes could avail of several workout routines, including stretch sessions, tutorials, dance videos, and meditation guides.
Highlights of Lennie’s earlier journey in “My Big Fat Fabulous Life”
Lennie Alehat made sporadic appearances from the second season up to the fourth season, so he wasn’t credited as a regular cast member. While his screen time wasn’t that massive compared to other stars of the show, his character endeared him to regular viewers so that up to this day, they still talk and wonder what happened to him.
Lennie and Whitney’s first date
In the second season, Lennie was introduced to the fans as a commissioned artist who paints for a living. The two met on the dating app, Tinder, and after talking online for quite a while, finally agreed to meet on a date. Lennie took her to a fun place called Wine and Design, where people could create memories by getting an hour or two of learning how to paint while drinking wine. A local artist was provided to guide them as they painted on their canvasses, with a sandy beach setting, but Whitney didn’t need one as Lennie was there to help her out. She was initially quite wary of going on a date with him, because of having been disappointed many times in the past. However, after the first date, she shared, ‘Online chemistry does not always translate to real-life chemistry at all, but I have to say, he’s really hot.’
Best #FirstDate EVER. Here's a BTS 📷 from that night! #TeamLennie? #MyBigFatFabLife pic.twitter.com/i5TzThcKiy
— Whitney Way Thore (@whitneywaythore) September 24, 2015
Babysitting with Whitney
“My Big Fat Fabulous Life” fans were charmed by Lennie when he accompanied Whitney in babysitting a friend’s baby. They had fun playing with the baby, and he had a great attitude and showed no aversion when it was time to change the diaper after the baby pooped. It earned him points in Whitney’s eyes, and gained positive feedback from many viewers. It seemed that Whitney had finally found a great guy.
A disastrous realization after a couple’s game night
Lennie and Whitney planned to move in together as they became more serious about their relationship. However, when they went to spend a fun night with Whitney’s friends, Buddy and Heather, it caused tension between them. It was supposed to be a harmless couple game night just to see who between the two couples knew each other best. Initially, Whitney was relieved that they were getting the upper hand, as she and Lennie had known each other longer than Buddy and Heather. However, as the game progressed, everyone realized that Whitney and Lennie didn’t know each other as well as they thought they did. They bombed topics such as prenuptial agreement, favorite food, country to visit, and other trivial topics that a person should have known about their partners. When Whitney was asked in an interview about it, she couldn’t fathom what happened, and said, ‘Am I sleeping with a stranger?’
One big fat break-up
During the fourth season of “My Big Fat Fabulous Life,” fans were shocked that Whitney broke-up from Lennie. They talked, and she said that because they were both busy, they weren’t able to bond as well as a couple should. She also mentioned that she was already 32 years, and felt that she was ready to move two steps forward, but it seemed that as a couple, they weren’t ready yet. Lennie asked, ‘Did I do anything wrong?’ as he felt overwhelmed and stunned by the turn of events, saying that it was something he never expected to happen. He even asked Whitney if she wanted someone else, but she told him it wasn’t the case; it just dawned on her that they spent less and less time together. It was exacerbated further when he wasn’t there, when she was fired by her trainer, and when she participated in the dance competition. She said that she relied only upon herself for emotional support, and that she felt that the whole time it happened, she was already single they obviously had a communication problem.
Whitney announced she was pregnant
During the second episode of the fourth season of “My Big Fat Fabulous Life,” Whitney made an announcement that astounded not only Lennie but the fans of the show as well. She told him that after she’d taken three pregnancy tests at home, she was pregnant. In a confessional video shown between scenes in the show, he couldn’t believe it, and said, ‘You’ve got to be f—ing kidding me.’ He even asked that proverbial question between former lovers when pregnancy was discovered, ‘You’re not just fucking with me right now?’ Whitney felt insulted that he had to ask her, which would mean that she jumped into bed easily after they broke-up. However, Lennie explained that he was once a victim of a pregnancy hoax from a former girlfriend, who just wanted to get them back together. At that time, she thought he would leave her to deal with it, but she was pleasantly surprised that he stayed and supported her in whatever she planned to do.
The truth about the pregnancy
After being shocked and overjoyed by the pregnancy announcement, Lenny and Whitney underwent a harrowing discovery days later. Whitney went to see a gynecologist, even though all the home pregnancy tests she took yielded positive results. Her initial test with the doctor also came out with a positive result. but to check out further if everything was okay inside her tummy, the doctor did an ultrasound, only to find out that she’d developed a cyst in her ovaries, and was the main reason why all the pregnancy tests came out positive. She had to retrace her steps, and tell everyone that she wasn’t pregnant – Lennie was quite devastated when he learned the truth. While he didn’t plan to be a father any time soon, the thought of him having his child changed his perspective. He even told her that he already found a crib on Craiglist, and that he was going to look for baby clothes with his sister.
Rumors and controversies about Lennie Alehat
Anyone who becomes part of a popular reality-TV series is treated as fair game by entertainment reporters and fans whose habits involved online sleuthing. Apparently, after Lennie ceased to appear on “My Big Fat Fabulous Life,” there were several rumors questioning his real identity.
He used a screen name
Viewers were flabbergasted that the bearded professional artist was using a screen name during his time in the series. It was supposed to be a reality-TV show in which everyone used their real names, to differentiate the show from other scripted drama series. Lennie Alehat was a fake identity – Nathaniel David Lee was his real name. This revelation perplexed fans of the show and questioned if the production as well as the other cast members knew the truth, or if they were also lied to by Lennie.
Lennie’s alleged criminal past
During the time Lennie participated in “My Big Fat Fabulous Life,” he charmed many of the viewers, as he came out as someone reliable, especially when he thought he was going to be a father. However, an online news site revealed that they found legal documents which showed he had a sordid past. Back in November 2008, Lennie was arrested for driving under the influence, or DUI. When the police tested him that day, he was about three times over the allowed legal alcohol intake limit. He also resisted arrest, and attacked the law enforcement officers even when he was already in handcuffs. The report even made Lennie disgusting in the eyes of those who learned about it, when the officers shared that he even continued to spit on police equipment after the arrest was made. Later on, he was charged with violating his probation, but was able to go through with it two years after the incident happened.
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He had two arrest warrants
If the DUI arrest wasn’t bad enough, fans were shocked that Lennie had two other arrest warrants. Someone filed a legal complaint at the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department in July 2016, when he allegedly became violent and threatened two people. It was reported that he shouted, ‘I will kick your a** and drag you out the damn store’; it was way different from the kind of character he displayed in “My Big Fat Fabulous Life.” Many fans then discussed online that Whitney probably dodged a bullet when she broke-up from him in the third season of the reality-TV show.
Lennie’s back in the 10th season of “My Big Fat Fabulous Life”
Before the 10th season of Whitney Thore’s series debuted this August 2022, there were several spoilers and news articles that surfaced online, hinting at Lennie’s return to the show. The fans immediately speculated that the two rekindled their romance, as the TLC network played that angle up when they were promoting the new season.
Why was Lennie back in the show
With all the rumors that came out about Whitney’s love life, “My Big Fat Fabulous Life” executive producers made sure to have Lennie appear on the debut episode of the 10th season. This time, his ex-girlfriend Whitney, reached out to him and hired him to do the walls of her No BS Active studio. The re-introduction of Lennie into the show wasn’t forced, because he was a professional artist and the only man Whitney felt was right for the job.
Clearing up their relationship from the get-go
Working with an ex-lover could be confusing, and turn out to be disastrous. Whitney felt that everything would be okay since their relationship happened back in 2015. She was in a relationship with a French guy, so she made sure that she cleared it up with him first before hiring Lennie. She said that her boyfriend wasn’t jealous, especially when she showed him Lennie’s photo. It seemed that on her part, everything was now just platonic and nothing weird between them would happen anytime soon. However, when Lennie spoke in the confessional video, he mentioned that since he hadn’t seen the French guy yet, and that the boyfriend lived in Paris, he just felt that he didn’t exist at all in his universe.
Lennie became the video producer for Whitney’s company
No BS Active needed a new video producer and editor, and Lennie applied casually for the job. Initially Whitney had concerns about hiring him for the position due to their past relationship, because it wouldn’t be a temporary thing like the painting of the walls. However, with her mother, Babs, confined in hospital, she didn’t have any spare time to look for other candidates, so she said yes and hired him. Lennie was warned by Whitney to make sure not to fall in love with her, as it wouldn’t be great for the business. He teased her if it was included in the contract.
Glen walked in on Lennie and Whitney on a bed together
Fans found it weird that Lennie could just casually enter Whitney’s bedroom and hop onto the bed just to ask her something about work, while she was about to take a nap. She was also confused as to why he would think that it was appropriate to do it at that time. He said that he felt it wouldn’t be a problem or a huge deal since she wasn’t uncomfortable with it. She told him that other people might feel otherwise, since she wasn’t single anymore.
However, what made the situation even weirder was that despite her initial reaction, she even asked him to scratch her back while they discussed the videos he was uploading. Glen Thorpe, Whitney’s father, walked in on them, and that made things quite awkward. Glen advised her not to do it again, as it wasn’t professional. When she mentioned that they were lucky that her boyfriend wasn’t around, her father was surprised that his daughter was dating anyone at that time; she explained that it was the guy she spent that summer with in France. However, Lennie couldn’t keep his mouth shut, and made the situation worse by saying, ‘It isn’t real if it’s long-distance.’ That comment annoyed Whitney, and she told them to leave the room.
The 10th season of “My Big Fat Fabulous World” would show if Lennie and Whitney rekindled their love for each other; there was a moment when Lennie asked his former flame if she was in an open relationship. During Lennie’s birthday, Whitney posted a birthday greeting on his Instagram account, which most of the fans found cringey, tacky, and unnecessary. She wrote, ‘Happy birthday to the most ex-cellent, ex-traordinary, ex-ceptional ex-boyfriend there ever was. I could give a million ex-amples of all the ways I love you.’ It seemed that she revealed the true nature of their relationship, but the fans were still curious as to what would happen between them at the end of this season, especially since the two would be sharing a hotel room while on vacation. They both established a great platonic and professional relationship, but with Whitney’s French boyfriend living thousands of miles away, their friends believed that it would soon escalate to something romantic.
Stand by fans, for further intriguing developments, off-screen, or in “My Big Fat Fabulous Life.”
