Kim Coles Reflects On Pressure To Lose Weight For ‘Living Single’

Kim Coles is getting real about the pressures of Hollywood. Speaking with fellow Living Single star Erika Alexander on their ReLiving Single podcast, the comedic actress revealed she was once threatened by executives to incorporate fat jokes into the script if she did not lose weight.

While reflecting on Season 1, episode 12, where the characters on the show kidnap Queen Latifah’s character, Khadijah, for a birthday road trip to Atlantic City, the two explain the chaotic episode and a cringeworthy joke that sparked the realization.

In the car ride, a comment was made about something weighing the vehicle down, to which a blindfolded Kadijah responded, “You better not be looking at me.”

“It is a fat joke,” Alexander exclaimed.

“We didn’t do a lot of that on this show, and I’m grateful that we didn’t do a lot of that on this show because I gained weight every year. And we could have a whole conversation about that,” Coles followed up. “I’m surprised we let that one go.”

Alexander then revealed, “Latifah made it really clear, like, ‘Look, we not going to be doing that,’ and then they disappeared.”

Kim Coles went on to reveal, “I would get a call at the beginning of every season to my manager saying, ‘Kim Coles has to lose some weight. She has to lose some weight. She has to lose some weight.’ I remember having this conversation with some guy friends, and they go, ‘There’s no man in America that would kick any one of y’all out of bed.’”

She continued, “Which is a really, really crude way to say it, but I think what was beautiful about us is, there were four completely different body types. And we looked like women that everybody knew in our community. But there is an expectation by these suits in an office somewhere of what they think sexy is. And so I had a really hard time as I was gaining weight and feeling as if everybody was staring.”

“You won’t remember this,’ Coles continued, speaking directly to her cohost. “I told you that they threatened me and said, ‘If you keep gaining weight, we’re going to have to start writing fat jokes.’ And you said, ‘I won’t read those jokes.’”

The ReLiving Single podcast was launched earlier this year by Hartbeat, Kevin Hart’s multi-platform entertainment company.

“We’ve seen the massive impact that Living Single has had on The Culture,” expressed Eric Eddings, SVP of Digital & Platforms at Hartbeat.

“It’s one of those shows that inspired legions of journalists, lawyers, and changed the narrative of what it meant to be a Black woman in ’90s America. ReLiving Single will highlight the intentional effort made by the cast and crew—many of whom we’ve never heard from before. And who better to guide us through this journey than Erika and Kim?”

Take a look at the pod discussing the “Crappy Birthday” episode below.