Michelle Buteau Explains Wall-Twerking To ‘The View’ Hosts: “Much Like Tom Cruise I Do All My Stunts”

By Radhamely De Leon
Published July 14, 2023, 1:05 p.m. ET

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Survival of the Thickest

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Comedian and Survival of the Thickest star Michelle Buteau had The View hosts in stitches as she dished on her latest Netflix comedy series and the dangerous stunts she had to perform.

After kicking off her guest appearance on the show with a rant on self-love that left her out of breath, the hosts dived into the steamy sex scenes that Buteau made a point of including as executive producer on the series.

“It was important for me to have sex scenes because big bodies are beautiful and we’re never on camera liking our bodies,” she explained. “We’re always so grateful that somebody likes us.”

After The View host Sunny Hostin noted there were “a lot of sex scenes” on the show, she asked Buteau, “When you were up against the wall, shaking your butt, was that you?”

Buteau took a moment to educate the View hosts. “It’s called wall twerking,” she said. “And yes, much like Tom Cruise, I do all my stunts.”

Hostin praised her performance, saying her twerking was “so impressive.”

“Thank you! I’m Caribbean,” Buteau explained, later adding that she’s of Jamaican and Haitian descent. “I’m a thick Caribbean girl from Jersey, we all twerk.”

Buteau’s new series, which is based on her bestselling novel of the same name, follows 38-year-old Mavis Beaumont as she tries to rebuild her life and get back into the dating scene after experiencing a messy breakup. With Buteau at its helm as the star and executive producer, the show also features a diverse cast and special appearances from Nicole Byer, Tasha Smith, and Garcelle Beauvais.

The actress explained that her intention with creating a series out of Survival of the Thickest was to portray “a love letter for women in their 30s and 40s.”

“This is just a love letter to New York. This is my version of New York,” she said on The View. “It is queer, it is fat, it is interracial, it is differently abled. It is hilarious of course, but it is all of the things I ever wanted to see in a TV show.”

Buteau also echoed a sentiment she recently told Decider’s Raven Brunner, saying, “Its a love letter to the fatty baddies and the oddy bodies that never saw themselves growing up.”

Survival of the Thickest is now streaming on Netflix.

The View airs on weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.