As happens to many reality TV shows, people usually become so enthralled by the stories on screen that they end up caring quite a lot about the actors involved in it. That’s the case with “My Big Fat Fabulous Life”s main star Whitney Way Thore – the audience have certainly grown interested in some of her relationships, even if some had not-so-very-good outcomes.
Seeing how the latter case applies to her former friend and business partner Ryan Andreas, it’s never too late to wonder what happened to him after leaving the show? Was it a business decision that grew him apart from Whitney, or was it something more personal? So will he ever return to “My Big Fat Fabulous Life”?
Keep with us to know all the answers!
Where Is Ryan Now?
Regardless of his rocky exit from “My Big Fat Fabulous Life” in the eighth season, Ryan Andreas remains quite active in public life, thanks to his popular social media and fitness business. As seen on his Instagram feed, Ryan has apparently left everything behind which tied him to his former friend and associate Whitney Way Thore, centering on growing My Training Partners, his customized fitness program founded in mid-2021.
Besides his career, Ryan’s personal life has also been through many changes in a couple of years. In August 2021 he became a father with the birth of Maddox Ryan Andreas, whom he welcomed with fiancée Sydney Sommer: ‘You are amazing, I can’t even put into words how proud I am of you, and how excited I am to be doing this together!’, he wrote about his partner in an Instagram post celebrating the arrival of their young family’s newest member.
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Although Ryan and Sudney’s story together is not well known, the couple is apparently set to marry in January 2023.
All in all, Ryan’s life after leaving “My Big Fat Fabulous Life” only seems to be going forward, so it’s safe to assume he doesn’t plan on returning to the show anytime soon.
Why Did He Leave The Show?
There are little to no secrets surrounding Ryan Andreas’ exit from “My Big Fat Fabulous Life”, all related to his professional and personal fall out with Whitney Way Thore. Back in the show’s seventh season, viewers were ecstatic to know that Whitney was finally starting her business No BS Active, in association with Ryan, whom she had recently become friends with, after a failed blind date.
While Whitney and Ryan were apparently unaffected by anyone else’s wariness regarding their unlikely friendship and business partnership, things took an unexpected turn when she started dating Ryan’s long-time friend Chase Severino. Nothing seemed out of place at the start but as things between the couple advanced to the engagement level, Whitney discovered that Chase wasn’t only with another woman, but was soon to become a father.
It was Ryan’s prior knowledge about his friend’s infidelity that put a big crease on his bond with Whitney. They completely fell apart when she moved out of Charlotte, where she’d settled in upon his insistence that it was the right decision to push their business forward: “I can’t do this anymore. I’m done I’m f—ing out”, he told her after discovering her packing-up to return to Greensboro in the seventh season. A reconciliation for the former friends never took place, hence leading to Ryan’s exit from the show.
Whatever Happened To His Business With Whitney?
Following their personal rift on screen, Ryan and Whitney’s business association fell apart as well. Their business split was apparently not messy on the legal side, given she owned the sole rights to No BS Active, rapidly replacing him with Jessica Powell, a physical trainer and bodybuilder from North Carolina.
Jessica’s addition to No BS Active has apparently turned out better than expected for the business, as Whitney affirmed the number of subscribers doubled in the course of three weeks after she joined the team. As if that wasn’t enough, Jessica and Whitney’s chemistry and good friendship is evident through their shared posts, and shared time on-screen during the trainer’s TV debut in “My Big Fat Fabulous Life” ninth season.
On the other hand, some viewers suspected Ryan might have some hard feelings towards Whitney, following a July 2021 Instagram post in which he affirmed to having left ‘toxic people behind almost a year ago’, which coincides with the time their partnership ended.
Regardless of whatever animosity remains between the former friends, both their businesses are fortunately moving forward, and more importantly, they seem to be in a better place personal-wise, now that they’re walking separate paths.
What Is Ryan’s Current Business About?
Ryan Andreas’ new business – My Training Partners – offers customized workout and dieting programs, especially focused on women. Founding a fitness-centered business shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, as Ryan had been active in this field since 2009: ‘there’s nothing more important than helping somebody go through a life changing experience that makes them happy, confident, and strong’, as he stated on the company’s website.
Sharing the position of the company’s chief executive officer with him is his mother Natalie Betsko, who had apparently not only led his path into the fitness business, but also has an enviable career as a trainer, having worked with several recognized sport teams throughout the country. Besides being a physical trainer, Natalie is also a bodybuilder and nutritional expert.
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While My Training Partners is still in its initial phase, Ryan does a good job at promoting the courses over social media, by creating viral posts showcasing related themes such as health, positive mindset and workout routines.
Is Ryan Still Friends With Chase?
No one really forgets that it was through Ryan that Whitney met Chase Severino, her now former fiancé and culprit of causing her biggest heartbreak on screen. While the fact that Ryan hid the truth about Whitney ex boyfriend’s infidelity is a big reason why he isn’t on the right side of “My Big Fat Fabulous Life” fans, many still wonder if putting everything on the line to keep his friendship with Chase was actually worth it.
It turns out that it was; not only are Ryan and Chase still friends despite their fall out from Whitney, but became business partners following the creation of My Training Partners. As stated on the business’ website, Chase, whose real name is Casey, doesn’t take an active part on the training part, but personally guides clients through their journey upon joining the program. He also does a big chunk of the business’ promotions on social media, so it would be safe to assume he might have partial ownership of it.
The pair’s bond is not limited to the business side only, as in 2022 Ryan celebrated his best friend’s birthday through an Instagram post which read: ‘We’ve been through a lot together these last 12 years. The best is yet to come’, so it’s clear that their friendship remains strong, regardless of adversity or third party’s problems.
What Happened To Chase?
For anyone involved in the entertainment business, putting a romantic relationship out in the spotlight is a big risk. Not only does doing so mean everyone keeps an eye out for it, but also because breaking-up is usually messier when too many people know about it.
Unfortunately, Whitney’s relationship with Chase Severino ended in the worst kind of way. In an Instagram post of late May 2020, she announced that their engagement had just recently ended for a shocking reason: ‘After experiencing a lot of ups and downs and still living apart, Chase reconnected with a woman with whom he has had a long history’, she wrote, asking for privacy. On the same day Chase confirmed the breaking up news, also revealing that he was expecting a child with the woman in question, whose name is Sara Jackson.
#ChaseSeverino whining about Whitney’s friends not being “team Chase” is absolutely asinine! Chase & Ryan have been TROUBLE since day one. We will NOT congratulate you on cheating/knocking up a ho. Especially when you smirk while fake crying. Boy bye! 🙄#MyBigFatFabulousLife pic.twitter.com/RE6j6yvaBx
— kyle’s the ragamuffin 🙄 (@judekay17) December 18, 2020
Chase’s daughter Aurora Joyce was born in September that year, as announced on social media: ‘I always rolled my eyes and laughed at the prospect of fatherhood before, but as cliche as it sounds, you’re the world to me now’, he happily wrote.
Although Chase proposed to Sara in early 2021 and though by 2022 their wedding plans haven’t been announced yet, in March that year the couple revealed to be expecting their second daughter.
Backlash
Even though nowadays life is going well for Chase, back when news about his infidelity to Whitney and upcoming fatherhood broke out, it resulted in lots of backlash coming his way.
Becoming the subject of internet’s rage isn’t surprising at all, considering the situation. It wasn’t only the fact that the infidelity occurred just after he proposed to her in December 2019, but also that he fathered a baby right away with another woman. Nonetheless, despite both parties asking for privacy and ‘time to move on’, some people deemed it necessary to send of hurtful messages to Chase on social media, an attitude Whitney herself condemned and described as ‘disgusting’: ‘I don’t want him to get that, people think they’re doing that for me, and I just hate it. It’s just negativity that nobody needs to see, honestly’, she affirmed in an interview with People.
On his part, Chase admitted to constantly receiving those types of messages from people whom he called ‘internet trolls’: ‘I’m posting these not for your sympathy, but in thanks. You see, this hate has motivated and propelled me to be a better me’, he wrote in an Instagram post which showcased a couple of screenshots of people cursing him on social media.
Who Is Whitney Dating Now?
Having faced all the difficulties which came with publicly showing too many details about her romantic relationship with Casey Severino, Whitney is apparently ensuring that the same doesn’t happen in her future relationships. That’s why by the time she announced being back to dating, she hid her boyfriend’s identity quite well: ‘He was the one who wanted his identity to stay private. But I think it was a good decision, because I think I would have been very anxious’, she affirmed.
According to People, she met her new boyfriend in early 2021 through ‘online French tutoring’, and despite the troubles of maintaining a long-distance relationship during the COVID-19 restrictions, she did her best to travel to Paris to meet him.
As seen on Whitney’s Instagram page, she has several pics with her ‘Frenchman’ boyfriend, but given that she always carefully blurs his face, people expressed their doubts about the relationship: ‘the amount of comments and DMs and tweets I’ve gotten from viewers assuring me that this man is embarrassed of me and does not care about me is confusing’, as Whitney wrote on social media, also asking her followers to stop projecting their self-doubts onto her relationship.
All in all, it seems there’s still a long way to go for her and her mysterious man.
Mental Health Issues
Ever since the premiere of “My Big Fat Fabulous Life”, Whitney Way Thore has been quite open about her struggles with weight loss and her body positivity journey. However, it wasn’t until late 2020 that she finally opened up about her mental health issues.
During that year’s World Mental Health Day, she reminded her followers that they weren’t alone in their struggles: ‘I was diagnosed with depression at 18, and have been dealing with it for more than 20 years’, she wrote on Instagram, revealing further details about her health: ‘I’ve also been diagnosed with atypical anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and generalized anxiety disorder’.
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Her post somehow didn’t come as a surprise, given how many issues she faced during 2020, with her messy and widely publicized break up from Chase Severino. One year later, she confessed in her show that her heartbreak had made her briefly consider having weight removal surgery, which in her words had never crossed her mind before. That being said, she admitted it was an idea driven by her wanting ‘to be treated better’ by other people, instead of just wanting to be slimmer.
Either way, she desisted from the idea, and true to her nature, kept moving forward in her body positive journey.
What Happened To Her Show?
In mid-2022 her loyal viewers became worried that her show might not be up for renewal, given how the ninth season ended in late 2021, and a new one wasn’t announced in the following months, just as they were used to since the show’s premiere in 2015.
However, much to the joy of her fans and the chagrin of her haters, the 10th season of “My Big Fat Fabulous Life” is set to premiere in August 2022. The new season would surely bring out many questions, mainly regarding the future of her relationship with the Frenchman, her business, and on-going journey in body positivism. All in all, while many things aren’t set in stone when it comes to Whitney, it’s for sure that no matter what issues and obstacles life puts on her way, she’ll always continue to move forward.
