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1000-Lb. Sisters star Amanda Halterman detailed her family’s tragic upbringing including their financial troubles and the murder of their grandfather, Charles H. Ellis.
“I get the impression that you all had a hard upbringing,” one fan asked Amanda, 42, in a TikTok video posted on June 7. “Can you touch on that?”
The TLC personality began by revealing that their family’s upbringing was “different than other folks.”
After noting she didn’t “want to go into detail” about her childhood because it’s not only her story to tell, she admitted that she’s “not sure” if her siblings “are ready for those things to be shown and told.”
“We grew up very poor. Our mom was a single parent with five kids and our grandmother was the one who stayed home with us and raised us,” Amanda, who has siblings Amy, Tammy, Chris and Misty, said. “My Uncle Kevin, he had a huge part in our upbringing.”
The TV personality then briefly touched on the “trauma” of her uncle Charles T. Ellis killing their grandfather by putting anitfreeze in his tea. She said that the experience was “very tough” on their family and that their grandfather was a “very special” guy.
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In the clip, Amanda circled back to the family’s financial status and reiterated that they didn’t have a lot of money. “We didn’t have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out,” she said. “That’s all I’m gonna say about that.”
The Kentucky native went on to explain that she shouldn’t be expected to share every detail about her past. “I don’t believe that people have to go around and tell their stories to be understood,” she said. “Especially when it comes to the transparency that we have on the show. I mean, we’re pretty open and honest about everything that we share on the show, so like I’ve said before, some things you just have to keep for yourself.”
Amanda added she doesn’t want everyone to know about her upbringing because she doesn’t want people to look at her “differently” or have “pity” on her.
“I don’t want nobody to feel sorry for me and my siblings,” she continued. “That’s the way all of us are. We just want to be seen as who we are as individuals and just know that we are good human beings. We are good people and we have done our best to raise our kids right.”
Amanda concluded the video by noting that she and her siblings are grateful to be as “close” as they are as adults. “I love my family more than anything in this entire world,” she said. “As far as the details of our upbringing, it’s kind of off limits.”
