This summer, “Fabulous and Thick” supermodel, Mo’Nique, takes her celebration of plus-sized women on the road — to Paris France! Read a candid Q-and-A with the host of Mo’Nique’s F.A.T. Chance for her take on starting her very own French Revolution!

Why is Paris such a terrific setting for this season of F.A.T. Chance?

Because Paris is about beauty and fashion. We’re making the statement that we’re beautiful and fashionable, so why not do it in a place that determines what that is? We’re taking it to the big time!

Paris is like the epicenter of skinny people in a lot of ways. So what kind of reception did Parisians give you and the women on the show?

Well, I’ll tell you, it was incredible. Some Parisians are not very emotional, touchy-feely people, but by the time we left Paris, the people that were involved in the show were hugging and crying. They were in it with us. You can’t fight love. I don’t care what size it is. You can’t fight it.

There was a book that came out a few years ago called French Women Don’t Get Fat. We have this image of French women eating croissants and bonbons and never gaining an ounce. Was it a daunting prospect at all for your girls to immerse themselves in this sort of environment, or were they just excited?

They were excited and thrilled to be in the City of Lights. One thing about a fat girl, baby — she’s resourceful! We will find where the good food is!

Speaking of good food, part of your message to women is that you don’t need to shrink to fit, and you don’t need to deprive yourself. Did you and the contestants find time to enjoy a little of the decadence Paris is so famous for?

Yeah! I also tell women, make sure you’re healthy. Eat what’s good for you, and when you do want to eat some of that ooey-gooey stuff, you’ve just got to work out. You’ve got to give yourselves 30 minutes every day for your health, but damn it, you’ve got to enjoy life, too!

This time around, the contestants enter the world of the Paris runway — a venue that can be very cutthroat and critical. How much pressure did the contestants feel about this challenge?

Well, to be honest, it was nothing compared to the nude body painting we’d done earlier in the week. We took off our clothes! It was so liberating and such a freedom. After that point, there was nothing they couldn’t do. It was like, “Oh baby, bring it!”

How did the girls react to the nude painting?

Well, when they walked into the room, we’d set up portraits of all these nude big women. You could just see their jaws drop, like, “Oh shoot, what are we getting ready to do?”

Was it an empowering moment for the girls to take the runway and strut their stuff in front of the fashion elite at the end of the week?

I think the whole process was empowering and life changing. I think stepping off the plane in Paris was life changing. Going to the design center in Paris was life changing, because they had designers creating an original outfit just for them. The whole of Mo’Nique’s F.A.T. Chance: Paris was life changing, not just for them, but for me, too.

What were some of the highlights for you about taking the show on the road?

Oh, well, the whole trip was one big “pinch-me” moment. I was talking to my grandmother when it was all over with, and I couldn’t give her the highlight moments because the whole thing was a highlight moment. We went to Notre Dame and the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, and just to be in the midst of so much history while making history at the same time…it was all a highlight.

As a supermodel yourself, was it fun for you to get to introduce the girls to the world of modeling?

Oh my God, yes. Yes, indeed! When you see them hit that catwalk with all their confidence and secure attitudes, they were just in their glory. It was for every time they had been teased and verbally abused and, for some, physically abused. For everything that had ever happened to them simply because they were fat, you could finally see them shine and say, “I’ve fallen in love with me.”

Is that very emotional for you to witness?

Yes, every single time, because guess what? I’m falling in love with me, too. I’m a fat girl too, so I know ridicule. I know the abuse. I know all of it. But the beautiful thing about it is, we’ve all overcome it. That’s why I tell the girls, “I really don’t give a damn who gets the crown. All of us are winners. Just by initially coming to the audition, you already won.”

There’s been some criticism recently within the fashion industry with regard to models that are skinny to an unhealthy degree. Do you think the fashion industry and society in general is beginning to see the light about accepting women of all shapes and sizes?

Here’s my response to that: Who is the fashion industry? What’s their name? Who is society, and what’s their name? You are your own “industry” and “society,” and whatever you deem to be beautiful or fashionable, then that’s what it is. Who gives a damn if they never come around? It’s their loss.

What advice would you give to people who are worried about being judged or feeling insecure about themselves?

Take off the chains and be free. Take off your shackles and be free. Understand this thing called life. It’s yours to live, and no one else’s, because on the day of judgment, there will be no one else standing next to you. So don’t give the power over your life and your happiness to anyone. It’s yours to have.

Your confidence and your sense of humor are infectious. You seem to be able to laugh at yourself without ever belittling yourself. Why is having a sense of humor so important in your mission to change people’s attitudes?

If you’ve ever noticed, laughter makes you unguarded. It makes you drop your guard, because you realize it’s not that serious. The moment you can laugh at yourself and other people can join in, you all realize it’s not that serious. So that’s why it’s so infectious and people crave it. People always say, “Why are you always so happy?” What a strange question! What do you think I should be? I’ve made a conscious decision to be happy every single day for the rest of my life. Imagine if everybody felt good about themselves. They wouldn’t have time to tease anyone else!

Are you surprised at all by the success Mo’Nique’s F.A.T. Chance has had?  What kind of responses have you gotten from fans?

I’m really not surprised by the success of the show, because this is what I asked God for. So to be surprised would be doubting what God could do. So surprised? No. Honored? Yes. And the biggest response I get is people just saying, “Thank you. Thank you for letting me see how beautiful I am.”