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America's Fattest Model


Fats McCoy

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Now introducing the next e-book from Fats McCoy, available for preorder now on Amazon.

It’s a battle of the heavyweights on America’s Fattest Model! Join the five remaining titans for a full-length near future novella of belly stuffings, binges, and luxuriating in a world where fat equals beauty, and more is always better.

Maddy Henderson is the heir to a Hollywood legacy that stretches back to when skinny was still a beauty standard. She’d do anything to prove she deserves her place in the limelight– even if it means gorging every second of the day. Can she make it to the top, or will her fearsome competitors squash her dreams?

This is a stand alone novella that takes place in a near future. It displays extreme weight gain, binge eating, drug use, and medical issues. 

Stay tuned for excerpts, and preorder a copy now to be the first to read it in full on release day.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Chapter One

Having all eyes on her was normal for Maddy Henderson, who came from a long line of A list celebrities. Knowing it was because she’d returned from season intermission with an additional fifty pounds of pure lard caked onto her swollen belly made it all the sweeter.

“Goddamn, what’d you do all last month, stuff your face?” Finn, a 6 '5 and 780 pound model and Maddy’s biggest - no pun intended - competitor on America’s Fattest Model leaned forward from his center of the couch perch to grab at her rolls. His heavy breathing echoed through the room from the exertion. This was normal. Maddy smirked, sticking out the heavy apron that hung almost to her knees. She wasn’t quite Finn’s size - just a measly 640 - but being in the 600 club was going to be the difference for her this season, she knew it.

“Fashion weeks are fun and all, but I was mostly there for the food this year,” she joked, looking around the familiar setting. They were in the show’s back room, where the flabulous competitors came to take a load off, gossip, stuff their faces between takes, and on more than one occasion, go on a drug-induced bender of overindulgence. It was nice to be back. She nodded to Hilda, whose weight was clearly still sitting in the 500s. Worse, her overgrown body was still desperately clinging to its ‘big ass, big boobs, flat waist’ curves, a look that hadn’t been popular since the early part of the 21st century. Maddy wanted to pity her, but Hilda was already turning her nose up in the air.

“I read in the tabloids you were the life of every party, nose white with sugar smoke, but sleeping through all the runways. That doesn’t seem very professional for someone trying to be the face of America’s Fattest Model,” she sniffed. Maddy shifted her weight to the side, getting ready to rip the skinny little piece of work a new one. Ever since the beginning of the competition, Hilda had been ruining everyone else’s experience by bitching about their sugar smoke use, and it had never stopped being the most obnoxious part of the show. 

Sugar smoke, a drug created to cause a semi-hallucinogenic but blissful high only when taken on a stuffed belly, and whose effects grew stronger the more a person had gorged themselves, was a common drug. It was legal, and while it was technically frowned upon, it had become the most widely used recreational drug in the western world, surpassing even **, alcohol, and nearly rivaling caffeine itself. Its accidental affects - the majority of the users were morbidly obese - had shifted the entire culture. At a moment in time where obesity was becoming endemic, sugar smoke had made things ten times worse. An entire cultural shift had occurred to where being stuffed was normal. Everyone was fat, from toddlers to grandparents. Extreme obesity was seen as incredibly sexy, and the most alluring silhouettes were for apple shaped bodies with massive stomachs.

“Do you have to start in with your negative energy this early?” Drawled Nell, the resident space cadet of the season. On camera, she came off as having a free spirit energy, the type of person who read tarot cards, wore patchouli, and checked her horoscope before leaving the house. Off camera, she was using sugar smoke by the pound. It wasn’t possible to OD on it that anyone knew of, but if it was possible, it would be Nell who’d find out.

She swept into the circle of competitors carrying a silver tray with lines of sugar smoke and pre-cut straws to use, holding them the way a hostess might brandish a tray of hor d'oeuvres. Maddy’s mouth watered, already craving this. America’s Fattest Model had a ton of downtime between shoots, and so far everyone - except skinny Hilda, anyway - had gleefully entered party after party of overindulgence. After all, how could one claim to be the winner if they weren’t, in fact, obese as hell?

“Maybe you should indulge first, Hilda,” Nell continued, holding the tray just under Hilda’s chin. Maddy and Finn laughed. The final remaining competitor, Jacob, swept in from the dressing rooms and giggled. 

“Oh, are we all starting the party so soon? I’m already looking forward to this finale,” he crooned, trying to defuse the situation. Hilda glared, then shoved the tray away from her face. It slipped out of Nell’s hands and clattered to the floor, sending a cloud of sugar smoke into the air and spilling the rest of the contents on the floor. Hilda growled, and Maddy got the feeling she wanted to clap a hand over her nose to make sure she didn’t breathe any of it in. Teetotaler.

“God, Hilda, I can’t wait until you get voted off,” Finn snapped. “You’re such a bore.”

“Hey, hey. Everyone calm down,” Maddy held up her hands. “We’ll be going on stage soon, and we don’t need to be at each other's throats, even if Finn does speak for us all at this point.”

“Keep that to yourself, I don’t mind if Hilda’s still around. Just makes me that much more likely to win at finale,” Jacob teased, patting Hilda on the head. She looked like she was going to explode, and probably would have if a techie in all black hadn’t stepped in.

“We’re ready for filming,” they announced. All of the supermodels trailed after them, doing a final primp to their clothes as they stepped onto the stage and settled into the wide seats. The judges were already there, giving the competitors hungry grins.

Lulu De Borges - affectionately referred to as Mama Lu - took center stage wearing a hot pink pantsuit that accentuated every roll of her vast plateau of a belly. She was the head judge and arguably the number one icon of the fashion world.

To her left was Harriet Klein, a woman who had a vaguely toad-like appearance: skinny legs with an enormously flabby torso and a bulging set of chins. Harriet was the honorary has-been: an icon perhaps twenty years ago, but today’s youth only knew her from her time on America’s Fattest Model.

To the right, Jasmine Aldean was there, dark hair styled into a sleek ponytail. If Mama Lu was the head of the fashion world, Jasmine was the enforcer. Everyone knew who she was. Her modeling work was plastered on billboards from New York to Shanghai. Major fashion brands shucked out millions of dollars to have her wear their clothes, let alone to run campaigns with her. She was so busy that she could only participate in some of the episodes, but that was fine. The guest judges for AFM were usually awesome.

“And… action!” The cameraman called. The stage lights came up, illuminating everyone. Maddy trained her expression to look excited and confident. Inwardly, her heart was pounding. Everything had felt normal backstage, but now? Things had just gotten real. Only five competitors were left, but Maddy had to win. She’d been born for this.

“Welcome back, competitors,” Lulu crooned in a syrupy voice, eyes landing significantly on each of them. “I hope you had a productive time during our four international fashion weeks, and that you had a chance to put your feet up and take a breather. Five of you remain, but only one of you can be America’s Fattest Model. Who has what it takes to reach the top? Let’s find out. By the time the sun goes down tonight, one of you will be walking out of the competition forever.”

At Lulu’s announcement, the competitors gasped and exchanged glances. Usually filming was spread out over multiple days: the main challenge, a mini challenge, and a runway, plus the final judgment scene. Mama Lu grinned, showing perfectly lines of pearly white teeth.

“Oh, I forgot to mention: the reunion backstage? That was your mini challenge. It was interesting. Very interesting, indeed.” Mama Lu’s eyes lingered too long on Hilda, and Maddy’s stomach felt like it was bottoming out. What would Lulu think of Hilda’s teetotaling? Had Maddy said anything incriminating? Hilda had called her out for her sugar smoke usage, but Maddy hadn’t even answered before Nell had tried to get Hilda to take it. Oh, god, she’d never pictured their backstage moments would be filmed for TV. She hadn’t even noticed cameras!

“Before we begin, I believe congratulations are in order,” Mama Lu continued, snapping her gaze across the room. “Maddy, my darling, I hear you’ve crossed over into the 600 club during your break? Very good job. Your increased belly shows your dedication to the assignment at hand. Let’s give her a round of applause, shall we?” As Lu began to clap, the other judges joined in. The competitors did not, of course, but that was to be expected.

“Thank you, Mama Lu,” Maddy said simply when the quiet applause stopped. Lulu winked.

“For today’s competition, you’ll need to bring your A game. We’ve already seen you strut your stuff on the runway, show us your emotions, and sell every product from hamburgers to lingerie to office chairs. The key to being the best supermodel, however, is the ability to sell anything. For today’s challenge we’ve brought in LifeLess Diet Pills, an over the counter non-hormonal hypothyroid treatment proven to help anyone who takes it lose weight, whether they’re having thyroid issues or not.” Something in Mama Lu’s voice caught Maddy’s attention, like sarcasm she couldn’t quite shake despite being filmed. There was a trick here, or a punchline. There had to be.

“Well, if everyone’s ready, let’s head into the studio and get this show on the road!” Mama Lu waved to the competitors, who started to get to their feet.

“And… cut!” the cameraman yelled. Maddy immediately relaxed her shoulders and her bemused grin, but let her thoughts keep going a mile a minute. How was she supposed to sell diet pills when her entire life revolved around getting fatter?
--
Preorder your copy of America's Fattest Model today from Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B1JKV459

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  • 3 weeks later...

Chapter Two

Stepping back into her studio was one of the best coming-home feelings Maddy could get. As someone who came from a Hollywood dynasty, she’d basically been born in front of cameras. Production sets felt more like home than the Beverly Hills mansion she shared with her grandma.

“Nick!” Maddy squealed when she saw who her production director was, rushing over to give him a huge hug. Every week on America’s Fattest Model they switched up the crews so no one would get too attached to the competitors or try to give them an edge. What they didn’t count on was Maddy already knowing half of the crews, and more importantly, being on their good side. For all of her “sugar smoke benders” during the Fashion Weeks, she hadn’t been mingling with other models. It’d been with the so-called little people, like Nick.

“Oh, how are you, my dear?” Nick crooned, pulling the larger model into his decent sized belly. “Did you have fun at the fashion weeks?”

“You know I did. So many hot designs, so many people to rub elbows with.” Her mind flicked back to the long nights and late mornings of sugar-smoke hazed food orgies. Fashion weeks were the life she wanted to have all year round, and she was so close to permanently cementing her place.

“Amazing. Ok, we’re short on time so we’ll save the chit-chat for later. Do you know what you want to do?” Nick raised his well-manicured brows, herding her over to hair and make-up as he spoke. Maddy lifted her arms to let the wardrobe department strip her down and put her back together in their image, but she huffed at Nick.

“Not a clue. I can’t believe Mama Lu really wants us to sell diet pills. I mean, what gives?” She wrinkled her nose only for the makeup artist to swat her hand away.

“Sorry,” she mumbled. Nick just shrugged. She knew he knew something, but the crews weren’t allowed to give any hints to the competitors.

“I think you should go with your gut on this,” he said vaguely. Maddy pursed her lips only to once again get scolded by the makeup artist. Fine. She held perfectly still as her face was remade. Wardrobe buttoned a generic button down over her massive belly, each button straining against her gut.

“Is this really what I’m supposed to wear?” she asked.

“If anyone asks, you chose it,” Nick practically sang at her, begging her to pick up on an uptake she wasn’t quite getting. Diet pills? Frumpy clothes? None of this fit the theme of America’s Fattest Model. How was she supposed to sell something she didn’t believe in and morally objected to? Diet pills were evil, everyone knew that. They’d caused tons of health issues in their heyday, and ruined the self esteem of generations of women. They were virtually obsolete now, and had a strong stigma attached to them. They’d contributed to Maddy’s own mother passing away before her time. This didn’t make sense, unless…

“Am I supposed to refuse the assignment? Is that the test?” she asked. Nick looked genuinely surprised.

“What? No. Absolutely not. No way production would pay for us all to come out here just for models to throw a fit, that’s a horrible precedent,” he scoffed.

“But…” Maddy pressed. He rolled his eyes.

“Listen: just because you’re the only model left on the show who actually treats their background people with respect doesn’t mean I can just tell you the whole trick of the season. I’ve already told you too much, you big doofus,” Nick sassed. The wardrobe crew stepped away and he gave her a once over: snug jeans with the zipper unbuttoned that created a delicious muffin top of belly, the horribly ill-fitting button down, makeup that overly emphasized her double chin ridge and forehead fat. Nick beamed.

“You look absolutely perfect, my darling. Let’s get you into position, hm? Cameras will be rolling,” he sang the last part, as an obvious reminder to Maddy to quit trying to fish for information and get it together. Maddy followed after him, feeling like she was going to rip her shirt open with every step she took. Her feet already ached from standing on them, but she was pleased to see a chair on set, plus a big bottle of the LifeLess Diet Pills in a garish pill bottle. She gladly took the seat and skimmed the label while she waited for the challenge-specific camera crew and production staff to get into place. The crew filming America’s Fattest Model’s B-roll was already filming from the sidelines.

“And… action!” Nick called. Maddy’s belly swirled with panic at the lack of warning or preparation time. The teleprompter was blank since she was doing this improv. All she had was the bottle of pills, and no time to think. She trained her face into an energetic smile that hopefully didn’t look too manic or fake, but her mind remained as empty as a bubble.

Seconds were dripping by, and she had no idea what to do. She didn’t know how to sell this product. She’d been one of the top performers through the entire season, and the idea that this– this odd whim of Mama Lu’s– would drop her to the bottom made her want to sweat bullets under the hot production lights. She had to do something.

“Tired of your clothes fitting like mine?” Maddy asked, giving her enormous belly a slap to make it jiggle. It was seductive instead of derogatory, but she didn’t have time to clam up over the details. “Tired of being out of breath everywhere you go? Miss seeing your toes, or being able to touch them? LifeLess Diet Pills can help! They’re–” She held up the bottle, shamelessly reading the back of it mostly because she knew this was a practice take “--Designed for the extreme obesity pandemic, to get users back into a… toned and trimmed down lifestyle.” Maddy grimaced, fully giving up for this take. Her heart wasn’t in it.

“LifeLess,” she quipped, looking dead into the camera, “For those who want to enjoy life… less.”

“Cut!” Nick - not to mention the rest of the crew - was collectively ** back laughter. Maddy wished she could giggle along with them, but she was too busy being stressed. She had to sell this product, but what she wanted was to throw it out the window.

“Give me some direction, at least,” Maddy begged Nick. “Work with me.”

“What you did at the end– I liked that,” he said. Maddy frowned, having assumed that would be the part he didn’t want her to do. Mocking a product? It was unheard of. But she trusted Nick.

“You can’t really mean that I should–”

“Action!” Nick called with a significant look toward the AFM cameras before Maddy could fully speak her thoughts. Maddy composed herself. She was professional. She could do this. She held up the bottle of LifeLess Diet Pills.

“Are you tired of life being too full? Do you wish your social life would just slim down a little? Tired of the smoky haze and looking for something new? My name is Maddy Henderson, and I’m here to talk to you about LifeLess Diet Pills. None of the cool kids are taking them. Certainly not me.” She winked and smacked her enormous gut, like before. Behind the camera, Nick was motioning her to keep going, a look of pure glee on his face.

“With LifeLess Diet Pills, you’re guaranteed to lose your belly. It’s right on the bottle!” She turned the bottle, holding it up to the camera so they could see the lime green “weight loss guaranteed!” in italics. Nick was motioning her to wrap it up.

“LifeLess Diet Pills: for those who want to enjoy life less!” This time she gave the camera the most sarcastic smile she could.

“Cut!” Nick called before clapping enthusiastically for her.

“Maddy, that was absolutely PERFECT, you nailed it!”

“--What?” Maddy’s heart was thundering in her chest. “But I didn’t do anything at all to sell the product. Nick, I was mocking it!”

“As it was meant to be! Come on, Maddy, use your brain for something other than thoughts of more food. Do you really think a show that is literally titled America’s FATTEST Model would ever possibly want you to actually sell diet pills?”

Maddy gaped as it all finally clicked. She’d been snorting too much sugar smoke if it really took someone else pointing it out for her to make the connection. It was an obvious trick. She wondered if the other competitors had puzzled it out or not.

“So are we shooting again?” Maddy asked. Nick shook his head.

“Two takes, that’s it. The other twist in the assignment. Surprise, you’re done.” He waved her away as a techie guided her to her dressing room. A massive lunch spread was set up there, which only happened when the producers didn’t want the competitors trading notes ahead of the judgment. That made sense. She sat down to eat and tried to calm her nerves. Perhaps she’d done OK after all.
--
America's Fattest Model is now available for preorder! Click here to get your copy :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Chapter Three

After feasting on pizza, bacon mac and cheese, and cake, Maddy changed into more appropriate clothes and followed her techie back to the main stage to meet up with the other contestants. She sank into her plush velour-covered seat and waited to find out how her competitors had interpreted the assignment. The cameras were already rolling. The judges filed in, with Mama Lu taking her spot last and grinning like a hungry hyena as she glanced from one competitor to the next.

“Did everyone have fun with their surprise assignment?” she practically purred. When the competitors groaned and complained - all in good fun, of course - she giggled. “It’s a new season, and a stronger competition. An important part of being a supermodel is being able to roll with anything, and sticking the landing on the first try. That means being well-behaved backstage, and bringing your best to the shoot. It also means being able to establish your brand, and knowing what does - and doesn’t - match it.

For today’s assignment, I asked you to sell LifeLess Diet Pills, a product that by nature goes against everything we stand for here on America’s Fattest Model. It’s a threat to our way of life, and to the fulfilled way we see ourselves. Diet pills are a relic from a flawed cultural past, where the evils of capitalism preyed upon generations of our ancestors by feeding them empty lies that they were never “enough” unless they lost more weight.” Lulu paused for dramatic effect, glancing at each competitor in turn. Then she broke into a grin.

“Obviously, they needed to gain more weight, just like us, am I right?!” Lulu grabbed at her rotund belly and shook the massive rolls for emphasis as the cameras zoomed in.

Maddy laughed, just like the other competitors did, but she couldn’t be relaxed or fully give into the moment. Her performance was playing through her head and she was analyzing what Lulu was saying against how she’d “sold” the product. If this was a test, she’d give herself a C. She could only hope the other competitors hadn’t figured out what was going on.

“Now, enough chit-chat! Let’s see how you all did, starting with… hmm. Jacob!” Lulu had the predatory smile across her face again.

“Oh, gods, not me,” Jacob groaned as everyone’s chairs swiveled to face the large screen. The clip began rolling, showing Jacob looking flustered and confused, as though he had no idea what he was supposed to be doing. He was in a well-fitting evening suit that made his belly look absolutely gorgeous. He quickly recovered and tried to smile, but the expression still looked confused rather than confident.

“There’s only one way to look this good,” he finally said, giving the camera his signature Fuck-Me look, then holding up the tacky pill bottle. “LifeLess Diet Pills.”

It was a good start, but he followed it by looking off-camera to the director. “--Can we cut and regroup? I need some direction.”

The clip cut off there, and Maddy heard Jacob mutter under his breath, “That little bastard,” before the next clip started. This time Jacob was laying across a chaise, still in the eveningwear and with a rose between his teeth. He was giving the camera the horniest look he could, and he was so intense about it half of the competitors couldn’t help laughing. He took the rose out of his mouth and pointed it at the camera.

“Hello. I’m Jacob, the sexiest competitor left on America’s Fattest Model. Want to know my secret to looking this good?” He paused, walking his sausage-y fingers down his massive stomach, which was so big it was hanging off the edge of the chaise. He slid the garish bottle of pills out of his waistcoat pocket to the howls of the rest of competitors. If he hadn’t understood the assignment, at least he’d been funny about it. Jacob deadpanned into the camera while holding the pills under his chin.

“LifeLess Diet Pills. You’ll be the life of any party.”

Maddy was wiping tears from her eyes by then. The clip ended, but everyone’s seats remained facing the projector. From behind them, Lulu called out the next competitor.

“Nell!”

Nell’s spaced out expression filled the screen, hardly showing the rest of her body at all. Strategically placed tape had made her double chin basically disappear, and contouring had slimmed out the roundness of her cheeks.

“Hi, I’m Nell Stevens. You might know me from my work on Kill Kevin, or from my time on America’s Fattest Model. Well, I’ve got a secret to success right here for getting fat: LifeLess Diet Pills.” She held up the bottle, too close to the camera screen for anyone to actually read it. “You can go from looking like this, to like this.” She peeled the contouring tape from her chin as the camera backed away, showing Nell’s enormous body in a bikini that was little more than some string and rags holding on for dear life. With a final wink of the camera, the clip cut off.

“Maddy!” Lulu’s voice called. Maddy winced as she watched her own clips. The first one was awkward and directionless, and while the second one was biting, it didn’t have the humor that Jacob’s had. Her saving grace so far was that Nell had falsely advertised the product, telling consumers that it was to help them gain weight rather than to help them lose it.

“Finn!” Was the next one up. Maddy saw him flinch as his name was called. As he came into view he was breathing heavily and clutching at his chest, something he’d done both genuinely and ironically in nearly every episode of the show. It was no secret that Finn was pushing his body to the extremes with his weight, and that his health wasn’t fantastic. It was just part of life for the super-obese. On screen, Finn looked at the camera. Much like Maddy, he started with a question.

“Tired of being out of breath and exhausted all the time? I know I am. That’s why I’m starting a new diet regimine. I can eat whatever I want with LifeLess Diet Pills and still lose belly fat. Just one pill, and you’ll be on your way to a healthier life!”

The clip cut off.

“And finally, Hilda.” Lulu seemed to put a negative intonation on her name, but it might have just been in Maddy’s head. She was still annoyed about what had happened backstage, and bracing for what the judges would have to say about her sugar smoke usage thanks to the other competitor.

When Hilda came into view, she was wearing so many layers of shapewear she could hardly move normally. Her silhouette was shrunken down, making her look much skinnier than she really was. Hilda smiled at the screen, full confidence. Maddy’s gut clenched in pity, knowing this stupid girl was about to ruin her chance for redemption. It was like watching a car accident in slow motion.

“Hello, America. I’m Hilda, the skinniest competitor on America’s Fattest Model, and I’m even thinner than usual thanks to Lifeless Diet Pills.” She turned to the side, running a hand down her girdle-smoothed flat stomach. She still looked curvy, but she definitely looked way thinner than usual. Maddy wondered how she could breathe.

“With LifeLess Diet Pills, I’ve lost 100 pounds of pure belly fat, and I feel great! My health is better than ever and I’m light on my feet.” Now she broke out into a stiff dance. “I’m leaving all of my fellow competitors to wallow in the dirt and surging ahead with LifeLess!”

The horrid clip finally cut off. In stunned silence, the chairs swiveled around to face the three judges, all of whom looked absolutely livid. Maddy was torn between pitying Hilda and wanting to grab popcorn. From how the seats were set up she couldn’t see Hilda’s face, but she’d bet anything the competitor looked confidently smug despite completely misunderstanding the assignment.

“We’ll get to everyone, but let’s start with you, Hilda: what were you thinking?” Mama Lu leaned forward, resting her chin in her hand. There was a suspenseful silence. Maddy could just imagine the smirk dropping from Hilda’s face as she scrambled to come up with an answer.

“--I didn’t realize it was a trick,” Hilda finally said.

“That much is obvious.”

“I did what I had to do to sell the product.” Hilda’s voice held more confidence than it should have, considering how the judges were looking at her. Jasmine leaned forward toward the mic.

“What’s most appalling to me is that you didn’t just think critically about what you were selling, but the entire series of mistakes you made. You flaunted being the skinny one on a show that celebrates fat people, and you also very poorly attempted to look like you’d lost weight. It didn’t work, and it was also insulting to the audience and to everything this show stands for. Did you really expect us to believe you’d lost 100 pounds by putting on shapewear?” Jasmine was tapping her nails on the judge’s table like she was ready to go for blood.

“I– I–” Hilda stammered, unable to formulate a proper reply.

“And let’s talk about your behavior behind the scenes,” Mama Lu said. “Harriet, did you have something to say?”

“Oh, I’ve got a lot to say.” Harriet smiled like a toad. All of the judges were like sharks circling a crime scene. “Hilda, are you aware of how people usually greet each other after a month apart?”

“--What?” The question had thrown her off, but Maddy was covering her mouth to stop from laughing.

“It’s normal to say things like ‘wow, I’ve missed you, you look great!’ or ‘what have you been up to since the last time I’ve seen you?’ Those are how normal people greet each other. Can you tell me what you said backstage, to any of your fellow competitors?”

There was another long pause before Hilda hedged, “I don’t remember exactly…”

“That’s convenient,” Jasmine snorted while Harriet checked her notes.

“You told Finn his flaming gay personality wouldn’t be enough to get him the win. You asked Maddy about the tabloids claiming she was only at fashion week to snort sugar smoke. You refused to speak to Nell until she brought you sugar smoke, and then you threw it on the floor. What do you have to say?" Harriet skewered her with a displeased look.

"I don't ever take–"

"Before you continue," Mama Lu raised her voice to what was almost a shout, "There’s one final twist in this season of America's Fattest Model. We've had a change in corporate sponsorships. Our new sponsor is Ajay Corp, the maker of sugar smoke, a perfectly legal substance and no side effect proven drug that fuels the fattiest of appetites."

Maddy's jaw dropped hearing this news. It was a huge reveal. The majority of the downtime in the first part of the competition was sugar-smoke induced orgies funded by the show. They’d gleaned all sorts of gone-viral imagery for B-roll. Maddy was featured more often than not, her eyes glassy as she stuffed massive amounts of creamy foods into her mouth. It made sense for AFM to directly promote sugar smoke. But for Hilda? That was a mistake. Everyone knew what she thought about sugar smoke.

"The mini challenge earlier was a blind test to see how everyone reacted to the sugar smoke product without knowing they were being watched. We wanted to see how naturally eager everyone was for a product that falls completely in line with what we support here on America’s Fattest Model, so we can see how genuinely - or disingenuously - you’ll be able to sell this product through the remainder of the season.” Mama Lu wasn’t done talking, but Hilda got up from her seat.

“Where are you going?” Jasmine asked as cameras swooped in to capture Hilda’s face from every angle. The model sniffled.

“I screwed up, and I’m being voted off, so, yeah. I’m going to get my things.” She headed off-stage. Maddy’s jaw was on the floor once again. In the more than twenty seasons of America’s Fattest Model no one had ever walked off that she knew of. She turned her attention back to the judges, who seemed equally at a loss.

“...Why don’t we take ten and come back?” Mama Lu proposed. “For everyone.” She made sure to look at the camera crew. Maddy got up, following the remaining competitors to a side room where a techie was waving them in.

“Holy shit,” she gasped immediately, turning to the others.

“I mean, I knew she wasn’t long for this competition, but DAMN,” Finn laughed. “I’m just relieved she took the fall so the rest of us could still be here. I thought for sure I’d bombed it, and don’t get me wrong it’s definitely not my best work, but ohhh my god she could not have fucked up harder.”

“Ok, but did any of you know about the sugar smoke sponsorship? Nell, did you?” Maddy asked.

“The techies were the ones who gave me the tray, but,” Nell shrugged, not bothering to finish her sentence. She settled her bulk into one of the chairs to take a load off, and the rest of the group followed.

“All y’all sucked at this competition, but you have to admit I slayed it,” Jacob joked, batting his eyes and posing like a goody two shoes with his ankles crossed and hands on his knees. He got a round of laughs.

“You still tried to sell the diet pills! I don’t even want to hear it,” Finn laughed, swatting at his shoulder.

“And, I was nice to everyone backstage. I’m just saying,” Jacob added.

“We get it, you’re in the top,” Maddy joked before steering the conversation forward. “So if the majority of our competition today was done blind, that’s a hell of a change moving forward. I wonder if they’re hiding anything else.”

Jacob rolled his eyes. “Like what?”

“I don’t know. Like how we treat each other, or how we treat the crew?”

“I almost wish Hilda was still here just so she could bitch about how the stagehands treat her. Such commoners,” Finn mocked. Maddy giggled.

“God, it’s going to be so much more fun without her. I almost feel bad for how she left, but… no I don’t,” she laughed.

“Competitors back to the stage, please!” a techie called, interrupting their conversation.

“Aww, I was hoping to get a whiff of sugar smoke first,” Nell grumbled as they returned to their places.

“I’m sure there will be plenty of time for drugs later,” Jacob snarked before the lights lit the stage once again. Hilda was gone, and it was time to get this show on the road.
--
America's Fattest Model is available for purchase now! Click here to get your copy. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

The three judges were back in place, although looking a tiny bit disheveled. Maddy knew they’d probably filmed a private scene as guided by the producer, but she wouldn’t be able to see it until the season was over. She added it to her mental list of drama points to find out about. Interestingly, Hilda was still gone, like she’d never been there at all.

“Welcome back to the stage, everyone. Let’s move on to critiques, shall we?” Mama Lu turned her attention to Nell and started giving critiques. Maddy zoned out for it. It wasn’t that she didn’t think it was important, but so she wouldn’t spiral into comparing herself to the competition. She was on the show to do her personal best, not anyone else’s. Mama Lu ran down the line, going next to Jacob and Finn.

“Maddy, I want to finish with you.” Mama Lu looked at Maddy, who sat up taller and tried to make her belly look bigger for the cameras without looking like that was what she was doing.

“Hi, Mama Lu.”

“What do you think of your performance?” Mama Lu asked. Maddy cringed.

“Conflicted. I don’t think what I created could be used for advertising, but I’m weirdly proud of that, too? Diet pills are part of my family history and they’re not something I’d ever willingly endorse. They’re a relic of a misery culture we’ve moved away from.”

“I like the way you worded that: a relic of a misery culture. And when you say family history, I assume you mean with your grandmother, Gisella?”

Maddy nodded, although she wasn’t particularly thrilled with having her family legacy brought up once again. She came from a generational line of Hollywood icons. Her grandmother, known simply as Gisella, had held her own as a slim and toned supermodel turned A-list movie star back in the day, and was still getting consistent roles and guest appearances on various projects. Maddy’s mother was a world-renowned international pop star who had a legendary career until a heart attack - both drug and weight related - moved her on to the next life.

“Both my grandma and my mom. A lot of people don’t know this, but my mom used to yo-yo weights like crazy. She was caught in that awful time when sugar smoke was just coming onto the market and before the diet crazes had fully faded from memory. She had an addictive personality, and she was torn between these two extremes, so she would binge and binge on sugar smoke, then immediately go on a 500 calorie crash diet and pop diet pills like LifeLess to try and slim down. As a child it was traumatizing, and I swore to never take diet pills or make myself that unhappy.” Maddy paused, then shook her head. “The autopsy we got said my mom died from her weight, but she’d been back on those pills, which were loaded with caffeine and other stimulants. There’s no question to me that it wasn’t her belly, but what she was taking to ‘fix’ her belly.”

Silence filled the stage after Maddy’s admission. Nerves filled her own belly. She’d never talked about this outside of therapy or with her grandmother, and especially not on something that would air it on TV. It felt like time, though. If she was going to prove she was America’s Fattest Model, that meant showing her own weight-related scars. The body positive world they lived in was built on the back of so much pain.

“Maddy, I am so sorry for your loss. I can’t imagine what it was like losing your mother as a little girl, and how much holding this truth inside has pained you for all these years,” Jasmine said, finally breaking the impromptu moment of silence. 

“I still remember the headlines making your mother out to be the poster child for obesity stereotypes. Every time I was in the grocery there was another tabloid about how sugar smoke was a deadly substance that caused her death,” Harriet frowned.

“Yeah. Diet culture was still hanging on, and they thought my mom made a great example to prove their point. However, it was the other way around. They killed her, and they had the nerve to weaponize her death.” Maddy was crying by now, her emotions a mixture of fury and old grief. She wiped her eyes as carefully as possible to avoid messing up her makeup. A model never looked disheveled, unless it was on purpose.

“Let it out. It’s OK,” Mama Lu said. Maddy shook her head.

“I never had a chance to make her proud of me, before she was gone. I was just a kid when she died, and she was away on tour more often than she was home. That’s what drove me to apply for this competition. It felt like paying homage to her broken legacy, and a way to say that her struggles were laid to rest and a more body positive world had taken over, a world where her only daughter had a chance to be called America’s Fattest Model and it wouldn’t be seen as a bad thing. That’s why I’m here, Mama Lu. That’s what this is all about to me.”

“I completely understand.” Lulu dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. The stage lights changed hue, the scene returning to its usual flow. Lulu sat up taller, looking at all the remaining competitors. “Now, it’s time to make our decision for who won our first week back at America’s Fattest Model.”

Maddy relaxed, knowing she was safe but accepting she wouldn’t be the top. Normally she aimed to be the best of the competition, but she would accept “safe” given the trying day she’d had.

“Jacob, your comedic relief made your advertisement the shining star of the episode, but you didn’t give us much to go on backstage. Nell, you supported our secret sponsor without asking questions, but your advertisement falsely claimed your product caused weight gain. Maddy, your sarcastic twist fell short, but you diffused an argument with your competitors when you thought no one was watching.” There was a dramatic pause before Lulu said, “Maddy, you’re our top pick of the week!”

Maddy couldn’t believe it. Her jaw dropped. Butterflies filled her chest.

“Me?” she asked in surprise, sure Jacob or Finn would have gotten the win since they’d done much better at advertising. Mama Lu just nodded.

“Oh, and one more thing: next week, we’ll have a guest judge. Gisella Henderson!”

Maddy’s heart stuttered in her chest looking up at the screen at her own grandmother. This was exactly what she didn’t need.
--

America's Fattest Model is available for purchase now! Click here to get your copy.

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