Barbara "Babs" Thore, star of My Big Fat Fabulous Life, has sadly died at the age of 76, and her daughter has shared a heartfelt tribute for the late star.
Barbara was best known among reality fans for being Whitney Thore's mom on the TLC show My Big Fat Fabulous Life.
Whitney took to Instagram on Thursday night (December 8) to share that her mother had died of cerebral amyloid angiopathy, which can go on to cause haemorrhaging in the brain.
Accompanying a video montage of Barbara throughout her life, Whitney penned: "My mother died last night just as the credits rolled on her favourite movie. Dad, Hunter and I held her as she took her last breaths.
"It was 10:32pm, the same exact time she brought me into this world almost forty years ago.
"My mom had cerebral amyloid angiopathy, which is an untreatable progressive condition caused by proteins in the blood vessels of the brain that can cause dementia, seizures, or like in my mom’s case, brain bleeding (hemorrhagic strokes)."
Whitney went on to share that when Barbara had her first stroke in 2017, they were aware that more strokes would follow. Her second stroke happened on December 28, 2021, and her last was on November 13, 2022.
The grieving daughter continued: "My mother is our family’s greatest gift. We could never love, revere, or value another person more. If you’re reading this, you’re familiar with her magic: her southern charm, her hilarious sense of humor, her well-timed witty remarks, her beauty, and her ability to make everyone around her feel comfortable and cared for.
"But what you can’t possibly understand is the extent of my mother’s love — what you may have witnessed and felt through a TV screen is a minute fraction that, even if multiplied by a million, wouldn’t come close to 'real life.' That’s how enormous, how generous, and how all-encompassing my mother’s love was. I am the luckiest person on the planet to have been hers for almost 39 years."
She then proceeded to thank the fans for "loving" her late mom, adding that she "delighted in her newfound television career."
Whitney went on: It gave her such a sense of purpose and excitement and something to look forward to every time the crew came around. This last year navigating life after her second stroke was, perhaps surprisingly, the best of our lives.
"We never had more fun or laughed as much as we did the past year. The support from all of you made her feel so loved and encouraged.
"We are unbelievably thankful that we’ve been able to share her with you and it is our hope that her memory will continue to be a source of comfort and happiness for the rest of your lives, just as it will be for ours."
She signed off the sweet tribute: "I love you, Mommy."
Our thoughts are with Barbara's friends and family at this time.
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