I Am Jazz’s Jazz Jennings on ‘Binge Eating’ That Led to 100-lb Weight Gain

Speaking her truth. Jazz Jennings is opening up about her recent weight gain in the new season of her TLC docuseries, I Am Jazz — and giving fans a look inside her health journey.

In the first teaser for season 7, Jennings, 21, revealed she has been struggling with her physical and mental health since 2019, when she was accepted into Harvard University. That fall, she revealed that she would be “taking a break” before starting school. “It wasn’t an easy decision, but it is the right one for me,” she wrote via Instagram in October 2019.

In the I Am Jazz trailer, which was released on Monday, November 1, she said, “Two years ago, I was on my way to one of the greatest institutions in the world, but I was actually struggling severely with mental health issues.”

The reality star continued, “I started binge eating, and I gained weight, and more weight, and more weight. And now, almost 100 pounds heavier, here I am today.”

Jennings is seen playing tennis and kickball with her friends, but she admits that “having all this extra weight, I can’t do so many things with my body that I used to be able to do.”

While the YouTube star works to get healthy, her family is seen pushing back at her dietary choices. “I do experience fat-shaming from my family,” she confesses on camera. “It makes me feel really humiliated.”

Over the summer, Jennings got candid about her body, letting fans know via Instagram that she had “gained a substantial amount of weight” due to binge eating, “a disease in which I’m not only addicted to food, but I eat it in large quantities.”

The LGBTQ+ activist told her followers that she had posted a before and after photo of herself to “address my weight gain and hold myself accountable. I’m ready to change my ways,” she wrote in June. “I’ve been saying I’m ready to turn over a new leaf, but I’m running out of trees now. I’m ready to take the initiative and create positive changes when it comes to my health and body.”

She added that, with help from her doctors, family and friends, she was ready to take control of her health — “but at the end of the day, I have to be the one committed toward bettering myself.

Jennings added, “Thanks for understanding the battle I’m fighting to win.”

The Florida teen has always given viewers an unfiltered look at her life through her reality series, which premiered in 2015. After undergoing gender confirmation surgery in June 2019, Jennings chronicled her post-op journey on season 5 of the series.

I Am Jazz season 7 premieres on TLC Tuesday, November 30, at 10 p.m. E.T.