The Truth About Laura Perez From My 600-Lb Life

Laura Perez from My 600-lb Life won over hearts when she appeared on the TLC reality TV series. When TLC first introduced Perez to the world, she weighed in at 594 pounds, her struggle largely the result of abuse suffered in her childhood, an unfortunately common cause for how many of the stars of My 600-lb Life gained so much weight. Due to her weight, however, Perez also suffered from "debilitating" diabetes, as noted by Starcasm. She had to be pushed around in a wheelchair while hooked up to an oxygen tank throughout much of her episode of the reality show.

Fortunately for Perez, she was able to turn her life around and lose the weight she wanted to lose — and then some. Her experience is quite the success story, as it led her to have one of the most dramatic transformations My 600-lb Life has ever seen, and her weight-loss journey has served as a massive inspiration for viewers who regularly tune into the popular show. Wondering about her journey and where she is today? Read on for the truth about Laura Perez from My 600-lb Life.

At the start of her weight-loss journey, Laura Perez was well aware that she needed to make a change. And while she was afraid of the difficulty ahead of her, she ultimately chose to lose weight so she'd have a longer life. "I want to change, but I'm scared that I won't make it," she said in her 2015 episode of My 600-lb Life. "I know if I don't do something, I'm going to die soon."

Fortunately, Perez made enough headway on her own that she was eventually able to have a gastrectomy while on the show. This reportedly removed four-fifths of her stomach, according to Starcasm. And she seems to have been on track for a much healthier life ever since. By her episode of My 600-lb Life: Where Are They Now?, Perez had dropped over 300 pounds, losing 57 percent of her peak weight, as Starcasm reported.

Sometimes, the toughest part about making a change is the anticipation of that change. Perez just had to set her mind to it and commit to the process.

For Laura Perez, losing weight wasn't just a goal she had set for herself; rather, she knew that she needed to lose weight so that she could continue on with her family. In her 2015 episode of My 600-lb Life, Perez talked about just how much she truly wanted to lose the excess weight, but her struggle was readily apparent. While she spoke of her yearn to shed pounds, TLC filmed her eating fried foods and ice cream. "Not being able to lose the weight is killing me, and I feel like I'm failing," she said in the episode. "I feel like I'm giving up on [my family]." 

Perez shared that her mother had even cried with her and had apologized for her daughter's weight gain. It couldn't have been easy for her family to see her struggling, but fortunately Perez is a trooper if we ever knew one. As she demonstrated on her episodes of My 600-lb Life and My 600-lb Life: Where Are They Now?, she was pick able to herself up, getting healthy for both herself and her family.

Laura Perez has a large, supportive family. Discussing her personal life on her 2015 episode of My 600-lb Life, she said, "I have a big family," though she noted, "And we all love to eat." The episode featured Perez and her family sitting down at a restaurant, ordering chicken tenders and French fries. But while her family did not appear to stop her from eating that greasy food, they do seem to be supportive in other ways.

Perez's family looks to be pretty close, lending a hand to one other when needed. This was demonstrated in a 2017 episode of My 600-lb Life: Where Are They Now? when Perez and husband Joey were tight on money and had nowhere to live. "This past month has been extremely hard and disappointing," she stated in the episode. "We couldn't keep up with the rent on our new place, and we fell behind, so we got evicted, and that was really hard to take." Sharing that they'd become "homeless," she and Joey moved in with her sister. We're glad that she had that support — that's what family is for, after all.

Laura Perez is perhaps one of the most memorable faces of My 600-lb Life because her journey was so impactful for so many viewers. After all, she lost over 230 pounds by the end of her episode, and she continued to get her weight down ever further. On an episode of My 600-lb Life: Where Are They Now?, she weighed in at just 182 pounds, which is one of the lowest scale numbers to ever be featured on My 600-lb Life, according to Starcasm.

And, according to photos from Perez's since-deleted Facebook page that were shared by In Touch Weekly, she seems to have continued on the right path in her weight-loss journey. She's looking happy and healthy — even donning some beautiful jewelry, a black lacy outfit, and bold red lipstick in one photo. The aspiring makeup artist who wanted to go to cosmetology school certainly knows beauty!

While there's no telling whether or not Perez ever went on to pursue her career goals after her time on My 600-lb Life, one thing is for sure: She looks great!

It's easy to imagine that losing weight and getting healthy would be a happy experience, but, for Laura Perez, that wasn't exactly the case. She not only lost weight, but she also lost the closeness she'd had with husband Joey, according to an episode of My 600-lb Life: Where Are They Now?, in which she discussed their issues as a couple. "Joey and me seem to be fighting more than ever," she said in the episode. She added, "It's gotten so bad that I don't think there's a whole lot of hope for us right now." She noted that she hadn't changed — it's just that Joey looked at her differently because she looked different than she did before she began her weight-loss journey.

"The better I get, the worse my relationship is getting," Perez said at the time, as noted by In Touch Weekly. "I had told him, 'I need you to support me, not take care of me.'" It seems as though Joey may have been a better enabler than a supporter.

While the world got to know Laura Perez as, well, Laura Perez, she reportedly goes by a different name nowadays, according to In Touch Weekly: Angelika. Some outlets report her full new moniker to be Angelika Pacheco.

As noted by In Touch, the reality TV star kept fans up to date with her journey well after her appearance on My 600-lb Life by sharing updates about her day-to-day life on her since-deleted Facebook page, and they got to see the real her on social media — as opposed to the version of her they got to know on what's arguably not-always-so-real reality television.

For unknown reasons, Perez doesn't appear to have any social media that's still active and public at the time of this writing. Perhaps the star goes by a new name because she wants to start a fresh new life outside of the public eye? Whatever the case, we sincerely hope that she is still thriving, just as she was by the end of her time on My 600-lb Life.

Laura Perez from My 600-lb Life reportedly split from Joey... and she seems to have found a new love.

According to Starcasm, Perez was said to have begun sharing photos online of herself with her new partner, Eric Juarez. She reportedly shared a photo with him, and, in the caption, she described her "ex" who had "brought my self-esteem down and made me feel like s**t for the last 3 years." She continued, "So much damage was done that there is no healing but now I've moved on." Speaking to her new beau's character, she said, "Thank God he is a great, hardworking, loving, caring man that puts me first. ... I'm blessed to have him..."

Starcasm reported that Juarez explained on Perez's Facebook page that she and Joey had split when he allegedly slept with an ex-girlfriend of Juarez's and was involved with a third person in some way who reportedly stole money from Perez. Unless Perez opens up about her breakup herself, we can't know what happened for sure, but we just hope that Perez is happy and feels supported in her new relationship. And it seems as though she is. In 2018, In Touch Weekly shared a photo from Perez's since-disappeared Facebook page. The caption of the picture read, "The luv of my life."

Laura Perez and her reported partner, Eric Juarez, are rumored to be married and to have children together, as reported by Starcasm.

Juarez reportedly shared a status on Perez's since-deleted Facebook page in April 2018 that gave an update on their life together, introducing himself as "her new husband." According to Starcasm, the post began, "[I've] known my beautiful wife for 1 year now and god blessed us with 2 [babies]." He added that their babies are girls, noting, "She's five months." He shared that he "can't wait."

It's unclear exactly what Juarez meant, but it'd seem that Perez may have been five months along in a pregnancy with twin girls at the time he wrote the Facebook post. While we can't confirm whether Perez and Juarez are legally married or if they indeed have a family of their own together as of this writing, we hope that Perez has found peace and happiness in her life since she first appeared on My 600-lb Life.