After Tammy comes home from rehab, she rallies around her sister Amy, who is struggling in her marriage with Michael
After spending 14 months in a rehab facility for weight loss, Tammy Slaton is finally going home in the new season of TLC’s 1000-Lb. Sisters,
But in a preview of the season shared exclusively with PEOPLE, Tammy’s return is met with chaos: Not only is her husband Caleb Willingham having trouble maintaining his weight loss back at the rehab facility, but her sister Amy’s marriage to her husband of 6 years, Michael Halterman, is imploding.
Tammy’s homecoming begins on an upbeat note, with her proudly sharing “I lost 300 lbs. And I’m ready to conquer the world’ — even though she says she can’t imagine leaving without Willingham, who hasn’t been approved for discharge yet at Windsor Lane Rehabilitation Center in Gibsonburg, Ohio, where they met and later married.
At first, her return is met with laughter and levity. When Tammy and Amy, 36, struggle to open a jar of pickles, Tammy cracks, “You got two children, I thought you knew how to handle a pickle.”
In reply, Amy shoots back, “I’m used to the bigger pickles,” causing both sisters to laugh.
“She’s been around a lot of pickles,” Tammy later explains, again prompting the reunited sisters to crack up laughing.
And this season, weight loss is fully a family affair, as half-siblings Amanda and Misty share that they’re seeking approval for weight-loss surgery, which Tammy had in 2022 and Amy had in 2020.
“Do we get a family discount?” Amy quips to the camera.
But while Amy is quick with a joke, the preview shows that she’s deeply struggling to manage the household and her two young children, Gage Dean, 3, and Glenn Allen, 1.
“I am very overwhelmed, stressed-out, and Michael ain’t doing s—,” she says. “Every aspect of my life is chaotic because I have no support.”
Amy’s marriage continues to decline, as she tearfully tells her family, “I’m exhausted all the time, because I’m trying to take care of two boys and take care of the house.”
“You have a husband that is perfectly capable of taking care of these kids for you to have a moment,” half-sister Amanda tells Amy — while Michael stands nearby, hands in his pockets, as Amy sobs.
“I feel like I’m at my breaking point,” Amy later says.
But things explode during a confrontation in their living room, when Amanda confronts Michael, angrily demanding that he give Amy her debit card or she’s calling the police.
“I ain’t giving her s—,” he retorts, walking away, prompting Amy to to chime in, “No, he’s got two seconds to get his s— and get out of my house.”
While sister Misty tries to break things up, Tammy calls for help. “I’m calling the police. I’m not f—playing,” she says.
Tammy Slaton calls the police on 1000-Lb. Sisters
Back in rehab, things are going poorly for Tammy’s husband, who shares that at 537 lbs., he’s starting gaining weight again.
“It bothers me that he’s backsliding,” Tammy says. “I don’t know if he has the strength to do this on his own.”
Willingham would die a few months later in July. The cause of his death was never released, and the couple were reportedly estranged at the time of his death, according to Deadline. However, as Slaton told told PEOPLE, “He was my best friend and I loved him dearly.”
The preview of the episode ends with Tammy saying, “I didn’t know coming home, the world was going to fall apart.”
The explosive premiere of 1000-Lb. Sisters airs Tuesday, Dec. 12 at 9PM ET/PT.