“My 600-lb Life” is famous for featuring complex cases of morbid obesity, and the third season’s patient Bettie Jo Elmore is no different from that.
Throughout her path in the show, Bettie Jo showed the audience that losing weight takes more than just a good diet, but is deeply related to mental health and family dynamics. Besides facing the usual challenges which come with obesity, Bettie Jo also dealt with untreated childhood trauma, a complex relationship with her husband Josh, and even non-weight-related health issues.
Despite the complications, Bettie Jo’s story is one of success and resilience, as her efforts not only resulted in an incredible physical transformation, but also positive change in every aspect of her life.
So how much did Bettie Jo change in the show? What’s going on with her these days? What about her husband and family? Keep watching to find out these answers and more!
Bettie Jo’s Journey
The story of Bettie Jo Elmore has been filled with highs and lows, but has always been inspiring to see. She was only 24 years old when she appeared in the third season of “My 600-lb Life”, but her weight was at an astounding peak of 654 lbs.
While Bettie Jo didn’t seem to suffer from the usual weight-related symptoms that other patients in the show did, it was clear from the beginning that something wasn’t quite right. As Dr. Now observed from her first appointment, Bettie Jo’s husband Josh was her food enabler, something which the young man admitted to, given his refusal to argue with her food requests. Moreover, he also admitted in front of cameras of being afraid of Bettie Jo leaving him as a result of her physical change.
Following Bettie Jo and Josh’s move to Houston, the couple worked together to accomplish her weight goals. At that point, Bettie Jo was in high spirits, and giving her best to lose weight, but her next appointment with Dr. Now revealed that her issues with her husband went deeper than expected, as Josh openly expressed his discomfort at seeing her independence steadily grow.
Results
The path Bettie Jo had to walk was not free from difficulties, but her positive progress was evident throughout her episode. The earliest months of her treatment were enough to convince Dr. Now of her commitment to the program, approving her bariatric surgery, even when there was still a need for her to treat her pressing emotional issues.
Later in the show, the audience learned that not only was Bettie Jo facing relationship issues with her husband, but also that she’d suffered from sexual abuse early in her life, leading her to use her weight as protection. The heartbreaking revelation also brought up the fact that she was afraid of becoming smaller in size, as Bettie Jo feared tht she would suffer from the same traumatic things from the past if she did.
Despite the fears, Bettie Jo continued her journey until losing over 150lbs by the end of her episode, going under the 500lbs mark. She eventually retured to her native Missouri, while continuing her commitment to Dr. Now’s program.
Life After The Show
Following her feature in “My 600-lb Life”s third season, Bettie Jo Elmore appeared in a couple of episodes of the spin-off “Where Are They Now?”, aired in 2016 and 2018.
These episodes shed some light on Bettie Jo’s weight loss progress on her own, which became slightly complicated when she became pregnant for the first time. As seen in the show, a growth was found on Bettie Jo’s spine, but the pregnancy prevented Bettie Jo from undergoing surgery to fix the issue. This led her to forgo all the progress she had made about her mobility, as it became highly dangerous for her to move around the house, as she’d been doing since losing weight.
Following the birth of her son Preston in mid-2016, Bettie Jo underwent surgery to remove the growth. She spent the next two years taking care of her young son while still working on losing weight, though she also admitted to having a slower process compared to other patients from the show.
By the end of 2017, Bettie showed her new size through some Instagram selfies, letting us know that despite not being thin yet, she was proud of her progress.
Her Life Now
Lots of things have changed for Bettie Jo over the years, and many don’t have anything to do with her weight. Following the birth of her first son Preston in 2016, Bettie Jo and her husband Josh went on to welcome two more sons they named Oliver and Erickson, born in 2022 and 2024, respectively.
Now with a family of five, Bettie Jo and Josh seem to have fixed many of the issues which had made their relationship difficult in the past. While the two have refrained from getting too deep about the role of their mental health in their relationship, the pair publicly celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary in 2021 with a heartfelt post on social media in which she proudly affirmed that her husband was the one person who made her feel ‘safe and loved’. At the time, Bettie Jo revealed that she and Josh had been together since they were 15 years old, making their story together all the more impressive.
Regarding her health, it hasn’t been an easy time for Bettie Jo lately. As she announced in early 2024, she was suffering from complications related to a hernia which led her to have surgery once again, but details about her recovery are unknown.
All in all, Bettie Jo’s path so far has been a difficult one for more than just her weight, but we’re always hoping that she gets to enjoy the results of her hard work.
