Tami Roman has been in the spotlight for a number of years now, and she’s got a ton of meme-generating moments to prove it. However, her recent weight loss has caused a bit of concern among her fans.
The reality TV star and host of MTV‘s Caught in the Act: Unfaithful, is a veteran in front of the screen. So when season 3 of Unfaithful kicked off in late September, Tami’s return came with a significant weight loss, and fans couldn’t help but wonder what caused this. Turns out, there’s more going on than meets the eye, and Tami’s been quite open about her journey.
A tough diagnosis: Living with Diabetes
As a reality TV favorite, Tami has never shied away from discussing her health struggles, and her openness is something her fans appreciate. She was initially diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 2014, which came after she experienced an unexplained weight change. The diagnosis was a shock, but at first, she didn’t take it as seriously as she admits she should have. In a 2014 interview with The Jasmine Brand, she shared how she initially brushed it off, despite her body beginning to lose weight naturally after the diagnosis. She confessed: “I didn’t honor the fact that I had [diabetes] at first.”
But it wasn’t until she got some tough-love advice from actress Halle Berry, who also has diabetes, that her perspective changed. Halle’s advice was blunt but life-changing: “You either want to live, or you want to die.” That simple statement struck Tami deeply, and she began to reframe her approach to health. From then on, she adopted a healthier diet and became intentional about her lifestyle choices. Tami has faced criticism and even rude comments about her thin appearance, with some people making unfair assumptions. But her response to the backlash was powerful: “I didn’t lose weight, I lost my willingness to die.”
The battle with Body Dysmorphic Disorder
But diabetes isn’t the only factor behind Tami’s weight journey. She’s also opened up about living with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), a mental health condition that distorts how she views her own body. In a candid interview on The Breakfast Club, Tami revealed that she was diagnosed with BDD back in 2008, though she had been struggling with it long before she knew what it was. Body dysmorphic disorder often causes people to fixate on parts of their body that others may not even notice, and it creates a challenging dynamic, affecting day to day living.
Nowadays, for Tami, seeing bones or a defined clavicle feels like a sign of progress, while others worry she’s gone too far. “Every day is a challenge,” she explained, detailing how her mind can trick her into believing her self-worth is tied to her appearance. It’s a raw and real look into the mental battles that come alongside her physical health journey.
Nonetheless, Tami’s decision to speak out has been very empowering, especially to women. The International OCD Foundation has reported that BDD is still very much under-diagnosed, and about 60% of people with the disorder are women. Tami joins the list of celebrity figures that have shown that there’s often much more to someone’s appearance than we might think, and her openness about her battles with diabetes and body dysmorphic disorder helps fans understand that it’s always best to give public figures grace when it comes to looks.