Lifestyle Health Stars of New Show '1000-Lb. Best Friends' Want People to Know That 'Fat Does Not Mean Less Than' Meghan Crumpler and Tina Arnold, two of the show’s stars, are ready for the world to see them go through the "ups and downs and ... wins and losses" as they work to lose weight By Julie Mazziotta Julie Mazziotta Twitter Julie Mazziotta is the Sports Editor at PEOPLE, covering everything from the NFL to tennis to Simone Biles and Tom Brady. She was previously an Associate Editor for the Health vertical for six years, and prior to joining PEOPLE worked at Health Magazine. When not covering professional athletes, Julie spends her time as a (very) amateur athlete, training for marathons, long bike trips and hikes. People Editorial Guidelines Published on February 2, 2022 02:48 PM Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos (L-R) Meghan Crumpler, Tina Arnold, Ashley Sutton and Vannessa Cross. Photo: TLC As two of the stars of TLC's new show 1000-Lb. Best Friends, Meghan Crumpler and Tina Arnold spend most of their time teasing and roasting each other in a way that only true best friends can. The pair — who are so close that they actually live together, with Crumpler in the basement apartment of the home where Arnold lives with her family — rely on each other to keep spirits up as they go through the often-grueling process of losing weight and working on their body image. "It's brought us closer, because not everybody gets to film with their best friend and share their life with the world," Crumpler, 43, tells PEOPLE. "But we've also always just been extremely close." The show, which premieres Feb. 7, will show Crumpler as she works to lose weight after getting weight loss surgery and Arnold as she hopes to drop pounds to enjoy a long life with her family, along with their two other friends, Vannessa Cross and Ashely Sutton, who are also on weight loss journeys. Pals Aim to Lose Weight on 1,000-Lb. Best Friends: 'I'm Sick and Tired of Being Fat and Tired' "I want to be able to not only be here longer for my family but to be able to see my kids' kids," Arnold, 41, says. "My youngest is eight years old, and I've sat so much of his life out on the sideline, not able to run around and play with him. His energy level is through the roof all the time and I can't match that at any level, and I want to be able to." Meanwhile Crumpler is continuing to lose weight after "life-changing" surgery. "I have come a long way. I'm still big, but my mama calls me a regular fat girl now," she says, laughing. "I have a lot of health issues still, but dramatically things have changed for me," Crumpler adds. "I went from not being able to walk maybe two minutes before getting out of breath and on oxygen 24-7 to only needing it when I'm under the weather. And my diabetes has gotten a lot better." RELATED VIDEO: 1000-Lb. Best Friends: Meghan Cleans Out Her Closet Part of Crumpler's work now is building her self-esteem. "There's a process to finding yourself and your love and self-worth," she says. "But I'm proud of myself." Best Friends Who Each Weigh Nearly 500 Lbs. Seek Weight Loss Surgery Together: 'She's Got My Back' And as the show airs, Arnold and Crumpler want people to learn from watching them "that fat does not mean less than." "We are people, we are intelligent women, we're ambitious," Arnold says. "We have goals, and it's not just sitting around on your butt all the time, eating junk food. We actually eat pretty healthy most of the time — it's just that our bodies react differently." And viewers will get an up-close-and-personal look at the process of losing weight. "It's a struggle every day, but it's one that we are working on and you know, we have our ups and downs and we have our wins and our losses and it's a work in progress," Arnold says. "The whole world's going to see my succeed or fall, but I will not fail," Crumpler says. "I might fall a few times, but I will not fail." 1,000-Lb. Best Friends premieres Monday, February 7 at 10pm ET/PT on TLC and discovery+.