Tammy Slaton has hit another major milestone in her remarkable weight loss journey.
The 1000-lb Sisters star, who has lost over 500 pounds since first appearing on the reality show with her sister Amy, revealed she’s finally at a point in her life where she can chase new opportunities that once felt out of reach.
“I was too fat to do anything,” Tammy admitted. “Now that I'm not that big, I've been thinking about getting like a job, or volunteering, so I'm going to the animal shelter today.”
In a clip shared on social media, the 37-year-old Kentucky native opened up about how intimidating the experience felt - but also how determined she was to push herself.
“I've never done anything, so it's scary, but I think it's good for me to get out of my comfort zone,” she said. “Not everybody's out to get me, and I need to learn that.”
She added: “I was nervous but also excited. This is my first job interview, and I want to make a good impression. I don't wanna say something stupid.”
The moment marks a huge personal victory for the TLC star, whose life has been transformed both physically and emotionally over the past few years.
Fans flooded her social media with praise. “Way to go Tammy! You have made so many people proud. But you have made yourself the most proud because u can see the life in you now! Reach for the stars girl!” one supporter wrote.
Another added: “I just love watching Tammy’s transformation not only physically but her mindset!! Go Tammy."
Tammy’s incredible transformation
Tammy’s journey began when she and her sister first appeared on 1000-lb Sisters in 2020, weighing a combined total of over 1,000 pounds. At her heaviest, Tammy weighed 717 lbs.
But after undergoing bariatric surgery in 2022, she shed over 500 lbs and later received approval for skin removal surgery - a procedure she said she was “terrified” to have but desperately needed.
“After six years and losing over 500 pounds, I was finally approved for surgery,” she told PEOPLE. “I was just overwhelmed with excitement. I worked really hard for this, and now it's here.”
Performed by Dr. J. Peter Rubin in Pittsburgh, the complex eight-hour operation removed more than 15 pounds of excess skin from her chin, arms, and lower stomach.
Tammy said it was a surreal change. “It feels so weird not having the b**l sack hanging off my face and my bat wings are gone too,” she joked, per Daily Mail. “I look down, and there is nothing there in my lap now... It’s going to take a little while for me to get used to seeing myself like this.”
She also revealed the emotional high of hitting her goal weight: “When I got on the scale, and I saw the scale was at 534.7, I kinda stopped breathing for a second. I'm like 14 lbs under my goal weight… I'm feeling thrilled, proud, excited - just all the emotions. I proved everybody wrong… I finally got mine! My told-you-so moment."
Love and loss
Tammy’s path to healing hasn’t been without heartbreak. She lost her husband, Caleb Willingham, just seven months after their November 2022 wedding. Caleb, 40, died in an Ohio rehab facility while Tammy was at home in Kentucky.
“I got a text message from his friend up there, and the text said, 'Caleb's not doing good. They're in there working on him.’ Twenty minutes later, he texted me back and said he was gone,” she recalled. “I was sitting in the fetal position.”
Tammy now wears a necklace and ring that hold Caleb’s ashes. “He's going to live on now forever because his memory is encapsulated,” she said.
Despite her grief, Tammy has found love again. In Season 7 of the show, she introduced her new girlfriend, Andrea Dalton, to viewers, revealing they met on a dating app and have been inseparable since.
“Tammy and I met on a dating app,” Andrea said. “I had just got on there, I wasn’t on there very long, and I saw her, and she saw me, and we just started talking. And it’s been like every day since.”
Tammy also spoke openly about coming out as pansexual and how her experience has shaped her new outlook. “The person I'm dating is a woman… I think my family probably has more opinions than the world has a***oles because they be farting so much,” she joked on the show.