On the current season of My Big Fat Fabulous Life, Whitney Thore drops a huge bombshell when she reveals she has a half-sister she never knew about.
Whitney explains that her dad, Glenn Thore, got a woman named Jackie pregnant in 1968 when he was a Marine stationed in Pensacola, Florida. Glenn was soon sent to Japan, and Jackie later gave birth and placed the baby for adoption.
The baby was a girl named Angela (aka Angie), and Angie’s son later found Glenn’s sister after they both submitted their DNA to an online registry and they came back as being closely related. It was later determined that Glenn was Angie’s birth father, and the two would eventually get in contact with each other.
Confusion about Whitney’s half-sister Angie
Thanks in part to information shared online when the story of Whitney’s half-sister Angie — and the fact that she would be featured on this season of My Big Fat Fabulous Life — broke back in November of last year, there has been some confusion about some of the facts in regards to Angie, Glenn and Babs.
That initial post, combined with additional speculation, resulted in some viewers doubting the accuracy of the story being told by Whitney and Glenn on the show. An Instagram commenter summed up the source of the confusion for Whitney:
@whitneywaythore I know some of these comments about how things went down are exasperating for you, but perhaps I can shed some light on why they’re showing up.
There is someone on Reddit, claiming that they are in contact with certain members of your family, as well as others who know you IRL. They are spreading stories that your mother (rest her sweet soul) forbade your father from any contact with Angie while she was alive. Also, they claim that your half-sibling is actually a brother, but that he backed out of the show, so (supposedly), Angie is a hired actress.
Before y’all come for me, understand that I do not buy into all that. Just wanted to give you a heads up as to why so many people are commenting these things. I think it’s wonderful that you have found more family to love and I genuinely hope that everything works out for you all.
Whitney Thore clarifies half-sister Angie story
Whitney responded to the comment above by putting together a video clarifying everything about her half-sister — including her adoption and exactly how and when Glenn first found out about Angie.
The video is VERY detailed and includes lots of receipts. In addition to multiple photos of Jackie and Angie, the video features screen caps of the text messages between Angie’s son and Glenn’s sister after the DNA results. ALL of the receipts back up the story that Whitney and Glenn shared on screen, including the timing of when he found out in relation to Babs’ last stroke before she passed.
Here is the video, followed by a full transcript:
Too long; didn’t read: Basically, someone on the internet is claiming to know me — they don’t — and they’re saying that my mother refused to let my dad see his daughter while she was alive — she did not — and that, in fact, my dad’s daughter is an actress and my real half sibling is a dude.
I can’t. And I honestly can’t even believe I’m addressing this, but I’m tired of saying it, so here we go.
Glenn Thore was born in 1946. In 1967, at age 21, he started basic training in Pensacola. There, he met a woman named Jackie. My dad became a marine, and Jackie became pregnant.
My dad brought Jackie home to North Carolina to meet his family, including his younger sister Karen. Shortly after, he was shipped off to Kamiseya to intercept Russian code during the Vietnam War.
Meanwhile, my Aunt Karen took Jackie under her wing and moved her into her apartment in Wilmington, North Carolina. However, once Jackie’s mom discovered she was pregnant, she made her come home, put her into a home for unwed mothers, and advised Jackie to put the baby up for adoption.
On May 4th, 1968, Jackie gave birth to a daughter who she named Tamara Renee. So, at age 22, while my dad was still in Japan, he became a father.
My Aunt Karen went to the courthouse to witness the adoption. She held the baby and got a picture of her, which my dad’s mother kept in her Bible for the remainder of her life. After that, no one ever heard from Jackie again, and the whereabouts of her and her baby were unknown to everyone.
This baby was adopted by Rosalie and Bill Dollison, and they named her Angela Marie.
In 2015, Angie tracked down her original birth certificate and the identity of her birth mother, Jackie. Unfortunately, Jackie had died just three months earlier, so they never got to meet.
She also acquired these papers [PHOTO BELOW] from the home for unwed mothers. Both Jackie’s and my dad’s identity were withheld, and you can see that this info was submitted by the mother, Jackie, but not verified. Some of the facts here about my dad that Jackie gave aren’t correct, like his age and his Scottish background. Having a temper though? Yeah, that was probably right.
And here are some more recent pictures of Angie’s parents, Bill and Rosalie. I was lucky enough to meet them, they’re wonderful, and there’s also a bunch of other people here that you may recognize, but back to the story.
Fast forward to 1976 when my dad met my mother. They married in 1977 and they exchanged their secrets that my mom had been married before and my dad had fathered a child which had been put up for adoption. They never told my brother or me any of this information.
Fast forward again to June 2022. One of Angie’s sons named Cody matched with my dad’s youngest sister Kim on Ancestry DNA. The website suggested that they may be first cousins, and he messaged Kim, but she didn’t see it until October 30th.
She messaged him back and they quickly realized that Kim was actually Angie’s aunt, and that Angie was my dad’s long lost daughter.
Kim visited my dad at Abbotswood to tell him the news.
On Friday, November 11th, my dad called me and asked me to come to Abbotswood the next day with my brother because he had something to tell us about his past. I was terrified and so anxious.
The next day, dad told Hunter and me the news about Angie, and I asked my dad if he had told my mom that Angie had found us. He said he hadn’t. He wanted to tell us first, and because of my mom’s cognitive challenges, we would need to take great care in sharing the news with her.
Dad asked me to take over communication for the time being with Angie because his best friend and boss, Terry Pegram, had just died and he was overwhelmed with responsibilities relating to the funeral.
When I got home that night, Angie had left me a voicemail. I called her back and we talked for hours and started sharing photos of our families.
I passed this exciting info along to my dad the next day, and then that evening my mother had her final stroke and was rushed to the ER. She stayed in the hospital in a vegetative state until she died on December 7th, 2022. So she was never able to hear the wonderful news about Angie and Dad having found each other, and Dad wasn’t ready to introduce himself to Angie for a couple months as he navigated the grief of my mom’s death.
So that’s the whole thing. I would say that I’m sure this debunked the conspiracy theories, but honestly, some of y’all are unhinged, and I’m sure you’ll spend your time making up some more crazy sh*t. So have fun!
Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com
