FAT Families host Steve Miller has some strong words for overweight Brits ahead of his comeback series, telling them “stop f***ing moaning”.
The controversial weight loss expert is bringing back his divisive show 15 years after it last aired on Sky One – and he’s taking it online.
Steve, who plans to begin filming in the nation’s fattest towns from April, will be freshening up the format but is refusing to ‘go woke’ and stop using divisive insults to spur on participants.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, he says: “I think we’ve got to shut the f**k up from moaning.
“We’ve nurtured a country of victims when it comes to not just weight but many things. I sometimes say to people ‘stop talking like a big fat lardy loser and start talking like a wobble-free winner’.”
CALLING ON KEIR
Putting pressure on the Prime Minister to grab the obesity epidemic in this country by the scruff of the neck, he says: “Why can’t Keir Starmer say ‘it’s wrong to be fat’? He wouldn’t though because he’d be nervous.”
READ MORE ON FAT FAMILIES
WEIGHT WATCHER
Forget fat jabs – I’ve got weight loss answers, says Fat Families fiery host
WEIGHT EXPECTATIONS
Controversial TV show Fat Families ‘coming back 15 years after axe’
Steve believes more needs to be done at government level to tackle bulging waistbands.
Official statistics show that some 64.5 percent of adults in the UK are overweight, with 26.5 percent of these obese. Meanwhile 22 percent of children aged 10-11 are obese.
He cites Japanese culture as an example of successfully keeping obesity rates low, referencing Metabo Law, which sees workers in the country who are aged between 40 and 74 getting their waists measured as part of a yearly health check.
If men exceed 85cm and women 90cm they receive counselling to beat the bulge.
“In Japan they have zero tolerance,” he says. “It’s wrong to be fat. Every year in Japan, in the workplace, your waist is measured. If it’s too big you’re directed to a number of tools you can use to get it off. It’s no wonder their obesity rate is like five or six percent.”
Steve insists Fat Families wasn’t axed after two series, rather he decided to go and work on TV in Holland instead.
He has appeared on UK screens over the years as a commentator on shows like Good Morning Britain, but believes there’s limited appetite from TV chiefs to book him.
WAR ON WOKE
“I still get the odd call from Good Morning Britain, but it’s very rare,” he says. “Maybe they thought, ‘oh, he’s too strong and too straight-talking and, you know, he’s not woke enough’.
“Well, I’m never going to sit there and be all hearts and flowers because I wouldn’t be true to myself.”
He continues: “The amount of engagement I get is when I’m straight-talking, they all say to me ‘I had a fat fiesta. You’re like a breath-freshener.’
“And that’s because people love the honesty. And as long as they know it comes from a good place and that you’ve got their welfare at heart, and it’s about humour, because humour motivates and science proves that.
“I think there is definitely not a real grip from commissioners about what makes television great when it comes to comedy.
“And actually, they underestimate the viewers in terms of what they want. And they pander to a minority of people that get, well, frankly, offended by the snowflakes that have dropped overnight.”
Steve came close to a TV return amid the coronavirus pandemic when Channel 5 recommissioned You Are What You Eat 15 years after Gillian McKeith first hosted it.
He sent bosses an audition tape but ultimately lost out on the presenting role to Trisha Goddard and Dr Amir Khan.
The reboot only lasted for one series though and Steve feels the broadcaster made a mistake overlooking him.
He says: “I tell you now, it might sound up my flabby a**e, but if I had presented that show, it would have been a massive hit for Channel 5.”
When pressed why it went wrong, Steve answers: “It was so boring. It was so studio-y. It looked studio-y based. And it was so technical.
“It had no humour. You know, when you’re on about changing habits, like food habits for your weight, then you have to lighten the mood. And that’s what very few people can do.
“And I do it very well. I have lots of weaknesses, but it seems to be one of my talents. I think when I watched it, I thought, well, this will help with insomnia.”
While Steve is shunning traditional TV to make the Fat Families reboot his way, he does have a vision of taking the programme to Netflix eventually.
He is funding the project himself and will visit towns like Wigan, Hartlepool and Tamworth with a videographer.
It’s intended to be raw and real as he dishes out servings of honesty, no matter how unpalatable.