Back in 2007, Mo’Nique stole the spotlight as the star of Anthony Hamilton’s “Sista Big Bones” music video—an ode to plus-size beauty and confidence.
But today, the Academy Award–winning actress is rewriting her story. She’s no longer embracing the “big bone” label. Instead, she’s building a platform dedicated to health, strength, and longevity with her brand-new initiative, Mo’Nique’s Movement.
During her appearance on The Tamron Hall Show, the 57-year-old comedian opened up about the wake-up calls that pushed her toward fitness. She admitted she knew things had to change after she found herself “out of breath by the time I got up to the top of the steps”. At the time, she even had an assistant who would rush in to tie her shoes because bending down had become uncomfortable.
It was her husband, Sidney Hicks, who forced her to confront the truth. “When she walked away, my husband said, ‘Do you think that’s cute?’” Mo’Nique recalled. Hicks didn’t let her deflect. He pressed further, asking if her assistant was tying her shoes because she couldn’t. “It was because I couldn’t bend down comfortably,” she admitted.
That tough love wasn’t a one-off. Mo’Nique shared another moment where she had filled her plate with everything on the stove. Hicks asked, “Are you going to eat all of that?” Offended, she tossed the food in the trash and stormed off. But Hicks followed with a line that stuck: “I can deal with you being mad, but I don’t want to deal with you being dead.”
From then on, the actress reframed her mindset. She didn’t want quick fixes or shortcuts. “You don’t need a pill…you don’t need surgery,” she told Hall. “If you really commit, the weight will go away.”
Her focus shifted from “weight loss” to overall health, and the results have been undeniable. For the first time since her teenage years, Mo’Nique dropped below 200 pounds—a milestone she proudly documented in 2018.
Now, Mo’Nique’s Movement has officially launched on YouTube. With the help of trainer Dwight Holt Jr., she leads short, manageable workouts designed to build consistency. The goal isn’t perfection—it’s sustainability. “We don’t have to be perfect. We don’t have to be a size two or four,” she explained.
For Mo’Nique, this journey is about more than appearances. “When I’m in my hundreds, I still want to be able to be active with my husband,” she said.