Tess Holliday Talks Parenting, Podcasts, & A Piggly-Wiggly Parking Lot

On this episode of This Is Paris, Paris Hilton and her co-host Hunter March sit down with plus-size model and makeup artist Tess Holliday. Tess tells them all about her struggles with anorexia, how she’s dealing with online bullies, what it’s like parenting her 15-year-old and 4-year-old sons, and the difficulty of going from middle-class to living in a trailer in her grandparents’ backyard when she was just a kid. And of course she answers the “seven sliving questions,” revealing her two worst dates, her terrible first kiss, her first celebrity crush, and the guests she’d most like to have on her new podcast Slumber Party (besides Paris, obviously).

Tess recently revealed that she has struggled with disordered eating for a decade; she tells them about the bullies in her DMs who tell her she’s “too fat” to be anorexic, but stresses that “anorexia is not a body type.” She herself thought it was; she thought she was actually overeating, until she reached out to a dietician to help her get into shape during the pandemic. The dietician worked with her for a month before suggesting that she see a psychologist, because far from overeating, Tess was actually anorexic, skipping most, if not all, meals. “I was literally starving and I didn’t know it,” she says. Even though she’s receiving a lot of terrible messages about her body, she’s still glad she spoke up; she thinks it’s important “to release the shame and the stigma” so people can start to heal. And it’s important to see people struggling sometimes, she says, praising Will Smith for posting about his weight gain during quarantine: “It makes people feel less alone.” 

And in response to the “sliving” questions, we learn that Tess wanted to be a doctor growing up, that she identifies most with an otter, that she’s very much like her zodiac sign, and she once threw up on a guy who French-kissed her while he had chewing tobacco in his mouth (“His name was Puddin’, and it was in a Piggly-Wiggly parking lot”). She also shares her worst dates ever, which involve a surprise bus trip, a Breathalyzer, a fast-food restaurant, and her date arguing with the cashier over paying for a soda. And finally, who are her most ideal guests for her podcast? She says Dolly Parton, Megan Thee Stallion, and Miss Piggy. “Iconic!” Paris exclaims. Learn more about Tess Holliday, including the incredible story of her mother’s recovery from an abusive relationship, her current celebrity crush, and the hell of dating in L.A., on this episode of This Is Paris.

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