“If your husband tells you that he's going to Brazil with his boys, best believe he is going to get some p….! It's like $6 bucks all throughout the country. So if you are his best friend, give him a box of condoms and say, ‘have fun,’” Mo’Nique recently advised an audience at the 2006 Essence Music Festival in Houston. She’s been known to blurt out some off-color, if not down right raunchy, remarks but this queen of comedy will soon reveal her softer side with ‘Mo’Nique's F.A.T. Chance’, a plus-size reality competition that was the top rated Oxygen special last year and could dominate once more on Saturday night. The full-figured beauty queen is taking a shot at changing the way people view plus-size women, and the way plus-size women view themselves. The show’s motto: ‘Flaunt what you’ve got; don’t shrink to what you’re not.’ You can catch the two-hour premier of ‘Mo’Nique's F.A.T. (Fabulous And Thick) Chance’ July 15 at 8 p.m. on the Oxygen Network. In the meantime find out exactly what Mo’Nique has to say for herself these days.

BV: Let’s talk a little about the show. What kind of relationships were you able to develop with the contestants on the show?

M: My relationship with those women – I am those women. I know their triumphs; I know their pain, their struggles. I am them. And I don’t separate myself from them. I don’t come in and go, ‘I’m the host, I’m the celebrity.’ When those women come out to California, we’re all doing it together.

BV: The show dealt with a number of issues including a fear of horseback riding? How important was it for you to spotlight the fact that something like horseback riding is a challenge for full figured women?

M: When you see horseback riders, do you ever see a big girl up there? Our horses might have to be a little bigger, but damn it, we can horseback ride!

BV: One contestant talked about her experience as a convicted felon, and it seemed as though the contestants all had different backgrounds. How do those contrasts contribute to the overall success of the show?

M: It was extremely important. When we say it’s much bigger this year, it’s much bigger in a lot of [ways]. It was important that we had women that were different from each other. I can be white, you can be black, and you can be Asian. You can be all these different things but we’re all that one thing – fat women.

BV: Do you think people see you as more than just a comedienne?

M: We want to let people know we can be happy and we can be ok with who we are. But it’s a lot of people saying that, not just Mo’Nique. You only hear about Mo’Nique. There are so many other people that are a part of this project that feel the same way.

BV: Do you find yourself constantly defending your position?

M: I’m not defending it, I’m just explaining it. No one has ever questioned Tyra Banks, and that’s my girl, I am so proud of her. But no one has ever said [to her], ‘Why do a show like this?’ Because that’s what’s considered beautiful. But people always say to me, ‘Why do a show like this?’ Why not? What’s wrong with us being proud of who we are? You’ll never find me saying, ‘Oh god, I’ve got to lose weight.’ I do say, please be healthy, but be ok with you. Realize that you are part of a beautiful people. We always fight so hard to become one of the beautiful people, you already are.

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