‘Survival of the Thickest’ Star Michelle Buteau, 48, Dishes on Her Body Positivity Journey and New Year’s Goals (Exclusive)
Plus, learn about her favorite healthy drink—and the fitness hack that makes her feel like Vin Diesel!
Actress and comedian Michelle Buteau is beloved for her sassy stage presence and relatable sense of humor, and she has the kind of bold confidence that’s a perfect fit for starting off the new year on the right foot. To that end, the Survival of the Thickest star and The Circle host has just partnered with Premier Protein for their New Year When You Need It campaign, which will be giving away free protein shakes in select cities from January 5 to January 9—just in time for when people are really starting the year and finally stepping out of the holiday season’s indulgence.
“My dad would always drink Premier Protein shakes, so doing this campaign makes me feel like he’s saying, ‘Take care of yourself, girl,’” Buteau says. “I understand what it’s like to have a busy life and to take care of yourself in those in-between moments in the best, fastest way possible,” adds the mom of 7-year-old twins. Keep reading to see what the star has to say about her New Year’s resolutions, body positivity and finding confidence through humor.
Michelle Buteau’s New Year’s resolutions: ‘I don’t have to get everything done immediately’
“Everyone tries to get their resolutions together by January 1, but you can’t always do that. Life really starts on the first Monday of the month,” says Buteau. The comedian is keeping her New Year’s resolutions simple, saying, “You always have to give yourself grace, so my biggest resolution is to take care of myself, have fun and remember that I don’t have to get everything done immediately, as long as I’m a good person.”
The road to body positivity: ‘I don’t see it as a struggle. It’s a journey’
Michelle Buteau is refreshingly outspoken about body positivity, and has often talked about being pressured to lose weight and how she’s found joy as a curvaceous woman. “I think the vocabulary we use around our bodies is really important,” she says. “Often, we use words like ‘struggle,’ to describe how we feel about weight and body image, but I don’t see it as a struggle. It’s a journey,” she observes.
“Learning about yourself is a journey, and it’s not just about numbers or being a certain size or weight or age. It’s about being happy within and taking care of yourself to be as healthy as possible, while finding ways to help you achieve your goal in feeling like you can be healthy and energetic,” Buteau says. “You need to remember that the most important relationship you will ever have is the one you have with yourself. It doesn’t matter what anybody thinks of you. It’s just about what you think of yourself, and if you’re happy and healthy, nobody can take a shot.”
Surviving and thriving, onstage and off
Buteau will be spending 2026 on the road for her “Surviving and Thriving” stand-up comedy tour. Asked how she defines surviving and thriving in her personal life, she says, “Surviving is knowing that I have enough energy to take care of everyone I need to take care of and hold it down. I have a lot of responsibilities, and I need to make sure I’m taking care of myself, because If I’m good with me, then I know I’ll be good with them. Sometimes surviving is just having a clean countertop in my kitchen or wearing matching socks, and thriving can be telling my friends a joke or getting back to everybody on a text message thread or taking a nice hot shower and remembering to put lotion on my feet.”
“Everyone keeps telling me I need to take a vacation, but I don’t think I need one—even that feels like a lot of work,” Buteau cracks. “What I’d rather do is find the moments within each day to have for myself. I love to do a few push-ups out of nowhere. Why not? It’s like The Fast and the Furious, but without Vin Diesel!” Another favorite self-care trick? “I always mix a caramel protein shake in my coffee. It froths really well, so you can have a little cappuccino moment and then put some cinnamon on it like you’re Rachael Ray,” Buteau says.
Finding power through humor: ‘It’s such a beautiful way to connect with people’
As a veteran stand-up, Michelle Buteau has seen firsthand how comedy creates connection. “Laughter really is the best medicine, and it’s free,” she says. “Humor is such a beautiful way to relate to people. You can share a joke and break the tension, or you could crack yourself up. It’s almost like dancing and how when you move your body in a joyful way, you immediately feel better.” Comedy has informed Buteau’s life philosophy. “Always lead with love and humor,” she says. “Those are the most important things. Everything else, we can figure out later.”
Michelle Buteau prepares to say goodbye to ‘Survival of the Thickest’ and hello to a new movie
Buteau is currently in production on the third and final season of her Netflix series Survival of the Thickest. The show is deeply personal, as it’s based on her 2020 memoir of the same name. “Doing the show has been a dream, and to even acknowledge that you have a dream, and then to see it into fruition, and share your story and your most vulnerable self—there’s so much to love about it,” the star says. “When I think about Survival of the Thickest, it really feels like a warm hug.”
Buteau is also excited about her upcoming comedy movie Spa Weekend. “We filmed in Australia, and we’re pretending it’s Malibu. The biggest takeaway is that the spiders in Australia are real,” she laughs. “I’m in this movie with some amazing comedic powerhouses like Leslie Mann, Isla Fisher and Anna Faris,” she says. “It was such a blast filming with these women who know how to take care of themselves and others, and they all have boundless amounts of energy. They’re all about being healthy, happy and hilarious.”
Buteau has always found support in other women, from her family to her costars, and she says, “The women in my family have taught me so much about having grit and grace, no matter how crazy life gets.” As she eloquently puts it, “I’ve learned that you have to understand how tough things are so you can understand how tough you can be.”
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