Brandi Mallory, the star of Extreme Weight Loss, passed away at the age of 40.
The deceased reality star passed away in Stone Mountain, Georgia, on November 9, according to a Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office spokesman who spoke with PEOPLE. It was not stated what caused the death.
In the 2014 season 4 of the ABC series, Mallory made an appearance. In a 2018 YouTube video, the makeup artist talked about how she got on the reality program with local Atlanta writer Kirby Carroll.
She said in the interview that she decided to drop the weight because one of her sorority sisters passed away at the age of 29.
“I was literally waking up every day like… this may be my last day waking up, like, I don’t know what’s going to happen for me,” she stated. “When it’s playing on your mind that I might need to do something about my weight, because I’m afraid I might die too, then you might need to pay attention to something like that.”
During the conversation, she continued to say that she had seen a casting call for The Biggest Loser and that, even though she was not chosen for the show, the producers had submitted her information to Extreme Weight Loss. “God has literally been at every step since then. At the time, she stated, “I prayed over that application before I sent it off; I prayed every step of the way.”
Mallory disclosed on the episode that she weighed about 329 pounds at her heaviest. She participated in the Half Ironman during her time on Extreme Weight Loss, a fitness test that required her to run, bike, and swim a total of 70.3 miles in less than eight hours.
Mallory has continued her fitness journey through dancing since her appearance on the series. She frequently shared with her Instagram followers her love of exercise and beauty. On November 3, the 40-year-old posted her last message.
On November 12, Mallory’s friends and family held a candlelight vigil in her honor. A memorial service for her will take place in Lithonia, Georgia on Sunday, November 19, 2023, according to her obituary.
Kim Williams Maxile, a contestant on Extreme Weight Loss season 5, honored Mallory on November 9th on Instagram.
Leaving a video of herself and Mallory with the comment, “Rest in Love sis,” “To my fellow @extweightloss sister in Extreme Weight Loss, @brandimallory, we shall miss you. I’ll never forget how your season encouraged us to keep going when we watched it during boot camp for season 5.
“With your zest and your passion for body positivity, you truly made an impact on this world,” she continued. I consider myself fortunate to have encountered you here on Earth.”
