Buddy Bell flipped off the camera, stormed off the reunion set, and came back minutes later because he did not want to look like a crybaby. Thirteen seasons in, fans still pick sides over every one of Whitney Way Thore’s fights. With Season 14 premiering Tuesday, November 10, at 10 p.m. ET on TLC, here are the seven that defined the show.
No. 7 and No. 6: The Ultimatum and the Cabin Standoff
At No. 7, Ryan Andreas gave Whitney an ultimatum in Season 8: stay in Charlotte, or else. Ryan was not just an ex — he was her NoBS business partner and the mutual friend who introduced her to Chase Severino.
At No. 6, the cabin weekend meant to celebrate Whitney and Chase’s engagement turned into a standoff with Buddy. He sulked through the trip and bristled at every mention of the wedding. The breaking point forced honesty: Buddy admitted he sometimes hated himself so much he thought about suicide, then apologized for the whole weekend. A rare MBFFL fight that ended in a hug.
No. 5 and No. 4: New York, Then the Walkout
No. 5 is the fight the reunion recap itself called the biggest blowout of its season: Whitney versus Todd in New York. On the Fitness Marshall tour, Todd told Whitney she was desperate for approval from other people.
The same reunion gave us No. 4: Buddy’s walkout. Host Shaun Robinson pressed him about rent and reliability, Buddy snapped that Whitney owed him for internet, called the questions obnoxious, and stormed off the set flipping off the camera. Then he came back. Dance teacher Jiya apologized on camera at the same reunion.
No. 3: The Firing That Turned Fans Against Whitney
Usually the fandom rallies behind Whitney. Not this time. When she fired best friend Ashley Baynes from her NoBS Active company after landing a new contract and hiring a new team, fans dragged her for it. Ashley had been there since the beginning. Whitney stood by the decision, calling it business, and pushed back at the backlash, saying, “This kind of abuse is not okay.” It ranks this high because it split the fandom: boss making a hard call, or friend crossing a line?
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Tal Fish and Ashley Baynes were once the show’s most inseparable duo. During the Season 13 era, they reportedly stopped speaking after a behind-the-scenes argument, and Whitney found herself trapped in the middle. Tal assumed Whitney’s loyalties lay with Ashley. Whitney summed up her circle in one word: “shambles.” The Season 14 trailer hints at a thaw — a fan reading, not a confirmation.
No. 1: The Betrayal That Ended an Engagement
Nothing else comes close. Chase Severino proposed to Whitney in Paris in October 2019, and for a moment it looked like the happy ending. Then May 2020 arrived: Whitney announced the engagement was off after learning Chase had reconnected with a woman from his past — and a baby was on the way. Whitney has said she had a panic attack so severe she called an ambulance for herself and went to the hospital alone, discharged around 2 a.m. She called Buddy, who drove from Greensboro to pick her up and stayed for six weeks. Within a year, Chase was a father and engaged to the mother of his child.
So here is the question Season 14 has to answer on Tuesday night: when the Tal and Ashley freeze-out finally plays out on camera, whose side are you on — Tal’s, Ashley’s, or Whitney’s, stuck in the middle all over again?
