With My Big Fat Fabulous Life Season 14 premiering on Tuesday, November 10 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on TLC, almost every conversation about Whitney Way Thore is about the Charlotte move, the engagement to Jake Beaudoin, and the baby dream that has driven her story for years. But longtime fans know one beloved Thore family member will not be there — and his absence still stings. His name was Henchi, the orange Persian cat who spent 17 years at the center of Whitney’s life.
A Pet-Shop Kitten From Korea Became Family
Henchi was born on October 1, 2007. Whitney bought him from a little pet shop in Korea in 2008, and in her own words, he brought her “nothing but so much joy” from that day on. She called him “The Beast From the East,” and he was there through the viral dance video, the show’s 2015 debut, and every move and heartbreak that followed.
On January 21, 2025, after Whitney came home from three weeks away in the United Kingdom, Henchi suddenly became ill and died in her arms. “He was the most faithful companion to me for the last 17 years,” she wrote in her Instagram tribute: “RIP sweet Henchimayne. 10.01.2007–01.21.2025.”
Babs’ Favorite: The Cat on Her Pillow
What made Henchi more than just Whitney’s cat was his bond with her late mother, Barbara “Babs” Thore, who died at home in Greensboro on December 7, 2022. At the memorial, Glenn called him “the most favorite cat we had ever had, especially with Babs,” remembering how he loved to lay on the pillow behind Babs’ head.
Henchi outlived Babs by just over two years, and in that time he became a living link to her. For fans who watched Babs become the show’s beloved matriarch, losing Henchi felt like losing a second piece of her.
The Memorial: Plastic Offerings and “Amazing Grace”
In the Season 13 episode that aired July 15, 2025, Whitney held a memorial built around his quirkiest habit: chewing on plastic. “Henchi would love you if you were plastic,” she told family and friends. “Now, one by one, come to the offering plate and deposit your own, unique piece of plastic for Henchi to play with in the ether forevermore.”
YOU MAY LIKE“Grow Up and Realize What Your Options Are”: Whitney Thore’s Ex Lennie Just Said What No One Dares to SayGlenn brought bubble wrap. Hunter brought a deli container. Buddy Bell brought a peanut jar wrapper (“He was a good cat”). Tal Fish brought dry-cleaning plastics and called Henchi “the cat that taught me to love cats,” while Isaiah Martin and Jessica Powell added shipping plastic and flower plastic. Then the group meowed “Amazing Grace” together.
Two weeks later, in the July 29 episode, Whitney sought one more answer in Salem, Massachusetts. During a séance, as a necklace she held began spinning, she asked if her mother was there — and when the medium asked what Babs might be holding, Whitney answered instantly: “A cat.” The medium confirmed Babs and Henchi were together. “I can just picture him purring on her lap,” Whitney said.
Why Fans Still Cry Over Henchi
Season 14 will be a season of firsts — a new city, a fiancé, and possibly a wedding on camera. But Henchi’s story is why so many fans trust this show: it never treated a pet as a punchline. It treated him as family, and let a grieving daughter believe her mother and her cat are together again.
So here is the question: which pet held your family together the way Henchi held the Thores together? Tell us their name and the one memory you will never let go of — and be honest, did the plastic offering plate make you cry too?
