From the moment they stepped into the house, the dancers on Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls knew they were on a different kind of reality show.
Although each of the 10 plus-sized dancers featured in the Amazon Prime series would be fighting for a spot on stage next to her at Bonnaroo, Lizzo told her prospective dancers that this was a battle of one. Each of them had a spot already; they just had to earn it. The result? A series that transcends the catty tropes that characterize most reality competition shows to be about something more.
Lizzo’s rise to superstardom was never guaranteed. The “Good as Hell” singer’s embrace of twerking, thongs, and (most shocking of all!) her own body defies the ingrained prejudices of fatphobia and misogynoir. Over the years, the singer has faced horrific bullying from trolls who can’t stand a plus-sized woman who doesn’t hate herself. Unfortunately for them, she remains unapologetically and 100 percent that bitch—and with her new show, she’s set out to find a few more superstar plus-size dancers to back her up.
Dancer Arianna Davis believes Lizzo and her team deliberately fostered an environment that would inspire collaboration over competition. Beyond laying out some basic ground rules to promote respect, Davis told The Daily Beast during a recent interview that the singer’s team seemed to take the time to match contestants with compatible interests and backgrounds. Better yet? The house came stocked with all the requisite New Age ingredients for chill vibes.
“There were crystals everywhere,” Davis said. “There was sage—all these beautiful things that would bring good energy to the house.”
Contestant Jayla Sullivan said the dancers bonded over a sense of mutual respect and understanding as athletes who have faced rejection based solely on how they look. Why waste time squabbling?
“You get a group of women that have been told ‘No’ for years because of who they are,” Sullivan said. “Now that we’re finally getting a ‘Yes’ and we get to share this experience with each other, there’s no reason for the cattiness.”
But that’s not to say there’s nothing at stake here. At every turn, viewers can see just how deeply these dancers covet the chance to dance beside Lizzo—at Bonnaroo or, in the best-case scenario, as part of her tour. Petty disagreements might not explode into all-out feuds as they might on other shows, but tension in the house nonetheless runs high. Everyone handles the stress in different ways—and the in-house tensions do send at least one person packing.
It’s hard to pick a favorite within this cast; the women range in age from 22 to 35, and compelling backstories abound. Standouts include Asia Banks, whose passion for dance grew after the tragic loss of her father; former gymnast and astounding freestyler Jayla Sullivan; and the unfailingly bubbly Moesha Perez, who also works as an off-Broadway stylist, costume designer, and more.
Although most of the challenges contestants face on Watch out for the Big Grrrls have to do with nailing choreography and going all-out on the stage, the series also incorporates other activities that foster mental health, mindfulness, and body positivity. In one challenge, the women strip down for a nude photo shoot; in another, they each choose a limiting word or phrase to write on a (sugar glass) mirror they will break during a performance. (Prizes naturally include the “Juice Award” and the “100 Percent that Bitch Award.”)
Several women told me that the show reignited their sense of purpose in dance. Before the show, former Majorette Ashley Williams said, “I was definitely lost in the sauce in this world.” She knew she had talent but wasn’t sure how to turn it into a career; the Lizzo audition gave her a new sense of direction.
Sullivan said this experience restored her love of dancing after a painful period of estrangement. “For so long, dance was always my escape from reality,” she said. But facing constant rejection—either because of her size or because she is trans—eroded her confidence. “It became almost like an enemy to me,” she said of the art form she’s loved for so long. “I missed it.”
As a dancer who often finds herself caught in the middle between peers who are both bigger or smaller than she is, Jasmine Morrison found her experience on the show uniquely validating. “I’ve had my gigs,” she said, “but nothing that has actually made me feel so seen like this experience has.”
On paper, Watch Out for the Big Grrrls might sound like a pretty safe prospect; to a cynic’s ear, a house full of women getting along and supporting one another in their dreams doesn’t sound like a breeding ground for compelling stakes. But even if the series can veer dangerously close to treacly territory at times, it’s never saccharine or inauthentic in its tone. It’s the kind of breezy watch that viewers raised on the often cruel, usually fatphobic reality fodder of the early aughts might wish they’d had growing up.
Besides, given how much our society refuses to treat fat people as, well, people, it’s hard to fault anyone for banging this nail a few extra times for good measure.
Contestant and influencer Sydney Bell hopes the series might be a wake-up call for corporate gatekeepers. “Not only is it gonna open up doors for us, but it’s also going to wake brands and companies and agencies up and let them understand, y’all have been shutting us out for too long,” she said.
And beyond that? “I’m also really excited for the younger generations that are gonna grow up and see this and know that when they see a bigger woman dancing, that’s normal,” Bell said. “That’s beautiful.”
Watch Out for the Big Grrrls premieres Friday on Prime Video.
