Powter’s “Stop the Insanity!” infomercial made her a household name in the ’90s, but she said there was “no way” the way the talk show was produced in 1994.
Fitness Queen Susan Powter’s “Stop the Insanity!” In the early 1990s, the infomercial that took America by storm with its alternative approach to diet culture talks about her “mortifying” experience of becoming famous on TV and her own short-lived talk. She spoke candidly about feeling out of control on The Susan Powter Show.
Powter, now 66, whose stardom in the 1990s was marred by allegations of bad business dealings and lawsuits from those around her, after previously revealing that she now supports herself on Uber Eats deliveries and a $1,500 monthly Social Security check. He told PEOPLE that it quickly fell apart because of this. and.
After gaining fame for her story of losing weight after weighing 260 pounds after giving birth to her two sons, Powter said, “To help start a company, an exercise studio and possibly a clothing line. , we have signed an agreement with a manager and an investment partner.” ” But that quickly evolved into a $2 million book advance and a one-season appearance on The Susan Powter Show, a nationally syndicated talk series that ran from 1994 to 1995.
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But Powter insisted, “I wasn’t running the company. It was a 50-50 deal.” “They started creating an ‘I’ out of me,” she continued. “And that’s what happened when the money got here (hands held high). At that time, I was like, ‘Oh, Suze, don’t say that. No, no, that’s a little too much. I was like, “Oh, you’re in shock.” Shocking. But it was the same shock that led me there. ”
Powter admitted that he worked “very hard on the show” and filmed three episodes in one day. “But it was frustrating,” she continued. “They made me wear pearls. Look at me, do I look like a pearl type? And I couldn’t say anything. All those segments, now I can’t even look. you can’t.”
She also recalled that although she made about $300 million in profits from her business, it did not equal the amount in the “bank account” she had.
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“I never earned the money I generated,” she said.
“I didn’t just decide to quit. Half of my heart was trampled on,” said Powter, who now lives in Las Vegas, adding of the betrayal he felt as relationships with various business partners deteriorated. “It was shocking. I was furious. And I thought, this is it.”
In addition to talk shows, Powter has done impersonations on Saturday Night Live, guest-starred in a 1994 episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air alongside Will Smith, and starred in the 1995 sitcom She was also scheduled to appear in “Women of Bel-Air.” The House session was not broadcast. She also appeared on an episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race as a guest judge on Season 3 in 2011, and a clip of her Shopping with Susan VHS tape went viral on TikTok in recent months.
Powter’s outlook has gotten brighter lately. She is currently working with director Xeveria Newman and Oscar-winning actress Jamie Lee Curtis on a documentary film about her life, which is expected to be released in 2025. She also recently published a self-published memoir, “And.” And then Em died…Stop the Madness! Memoir.
