Mélissa Bédard and Christine Morency had crossed paths a few times before this year, but they had never really spoken to each other. Today, they have become very good friends. “We are two spontaneous girls who like to share, who like to talk and – without making a bad pun – who take up a lot of space, explains Mélissa Bédard in an interview. When we met on I love you big, we also found ourselves fighting the same fight. ”
The fight that the actress and singer is talking about is that against grossophobia, a phenomenon that she and Christine Morency examine carefully in I love you big, a documentary series that will land on Vrai on Tuesday, Videotron’s new unscripted content platform.
Since they finished filming, they call each other almost every day.
“I like genuine people, real people,” says the comedian. I knew Melissa was like that as soon as I saw her on TV. She doesn’t play a game. With her there is no drama. I love it. And she laughs a lot at my jokes. That too is fun! ”
“Christine is really inspiring,” adds the second. She is like a mother; she always wants everyone around her to be okay. She is a very unifying girl, and funny, of course. ”
PHOTO PASCAL RATTHÉ, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Christine Morency and Mélissa Bédard became friends during the filming of the documentary series I love you fat.
The friendship that unites the two women appears on the screen, especially when they tackle more difficult subjects. During the first episode of I love you big, Christine Morency bursts into tears by showing the publication of a malicious Internet user made from a photo of her that she nevertheless found pretty.
This sequence will certainly affect many viewers. But when we mention the extract, the main interested grimaces.
“I don’t really like it when people see me cry, see me being so vulnerable. It is a baggage that I have. That’s years of accumulated comments. I see myself as a teenager, when I didn’t have all the tools I have today. A person who doesn’t have that, how does he manage to take the bus every morning without wanting to go home to take his own life? Because every time she does an activity, the world comments on her weight, the world picks up her, the world denigrates her. It’s heavy. It is very heavy. Can we just let her live? ”
Victims of prejudice
Produced by iProd Média, Isabelle Maréchal’s box, in collaboration with Quebecor Content, the series I love you big offers testimonials, sometimes on edge, of people who have been victims of prejudices in relation to their weight.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY REAL
Lise Dion in I love you big
We learn that Lise Dion has never undressed in front of her partner. We meet Mario Cadieux, an overweight man who has already been forced to go to the Saint-Hyacinthe veterinary hospital to undergo a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination. In the sixth episode, singer Renee Wilkin (The voice) recounts the furious rain of insults she received after presenting herself to Good evening ! in 2020 wearing more fitted clothes than usual.
However, it is the meeting between Mélissa Bédard and Thomas, a boy victim of bullying, which will provoke the most reactions. The singer manages to establish a connection with the child, whom she convinces to declare aloud that he is the most beautiful, the strongest, the best.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY REAL
Mélissa Bédard and Thomas in I love you big
“I am a mother of three children and a mother-in-law of three others,” says the singer. I lived it. My daughter lived it. It shocked me to see that in 2021, it was still happening. ”
Timely
The idea of I love you big came to Isabelle Maréchal while she was hosting at 98.5 FM, after having conducted interviews with Édith Bernier and Mickaël Bergeron, authors of books dealing with grossophobia. The producer then contacted Mélissa Bédard, who posted sexy photos on Instagram with messages about acceptance.
According to the singer, I love you big would never have gotten the green light from a broadcaster five or ten years ago.
The pandemic has allowed everyone to take time out to think, to ask questions. As a society, we started to debate. We realized that there wasn’t a lot of diversity on screen. Not just cultural, but physical.
Melissa Bedard
According to Christine Morency, the series comes at the right time, since it can finally receive a warm welcome.
“In recent years, there are people who have spoken about grossophobia, who have lifted the flag. Today, we know that it exists, we know that it is an issue. ”
New friends cherish a lot of hope with I love you big. According to them, the series will do useful work by destroying several prejudices.
“We want to start a lasting conversation,” they say.
Series I love you big lands on True Tuesday.