What The Assanti Brothers From My 600-Lb Life Are Up To Now

Brothers Steven and Justin Assanti first appeared on the fifth season of the TLC reality series My 600-lb Life. The show chronicles the weight loss journeys of various different people following Dr. Younan Nowzaradan's program, hoping for a shot at a better, healthier life. Steven and Justin were some of the most controversial patients of Dr. Now's, mainly due to Steven's antics and abusive behavior, with Justin unfortunately getting lumped in with his brother.

When they started the show, Steven weighed nearly 800 pounds and Justin almost 600, per Heavy. The brothers had a notoriously difficult relationship, with Justin on the receiving end of his brother's bullying for most of his life. While Justin heeded Dr. Now's advice, Steven, on the other hand, consistently whined throughout the course of the program, refused to follow the strict diet regime, and manipulated Dr. Now's staff into enabling his addiction to painkillers. Dr. Now eventually refused to treat Steven until he went to rehab for his addiction.

Despite this drama, both Steven and Justin were able to receive their gastric bypass surgery with Dr. Now, which drastically helped with their weight loss. Justin lost over 200 pounds, while Steven claimed his new weight to be 518 pounds, as reported by Heavy.

So, what are the reality stars up to today? Keep reading to where Steven and Justin Assanti ended up.

In 2018, Steven Assanti married Stephanie Assanti (née Sanger) a massage therapist from Iowa, per Starcasm. After the couple tied the knot, there was speculation and rumors that their relationship was fake or a joke, but Stephanie cleared the air in an interview with Starcasm.

"Beauty is skin deep and he has a heart of gold... [Steven is] nothing like how he was perceived on the TV show at all or on his YouTube videos," Stephanie said. "He's a gentleman and a fantastic lover and lover of life in general."

Stephanie's Facebook page still shows that she is married, she maintains the Assanti last name, and she hasn't deleted any pictures of Steven, but her last public post referencing him is dated to March 2019, making it difficult to determine the specific details of their relationship today. For his part, Steven doesn't have much of a social media presence of his own, but from his wife's pictures, it seems as if he is maintaining his new physique. He definitely seems happier and healthier.

Unlike his brother, Justin Assanti is a bit more active on social media and occasionally updates fans of the show on his progress. He has also taken to Reddit a few times to answer fans' questions, where he revealed he no longer talks to his brother Steven. When fans last saw the brothers on My 600-lb Life, Justin could barely stand being near Steven and he told fans he is now "enjoying life" away from him (via Starcasm). Justin is currently back in his hometown of Cranston, Rhode Island and working at a store called Hobby Haven, according to his Facebook page. 

He also admitted that the show is heavily edited and that not everything viewers saw was an accurate depiction of what really happened. He did say, however, that the only real thing was Steven's abusive behavior. "Steven on the show is Steven in real life," he said, per Starcasm, "It's one of the few things not scripted."

After losing 200 pounds through Dr. Now's program, it seems Justin has kept the weight off and continues to incorporate some of the regimens from the show. He is definitely living a happier and healthier life, away from the toxic relationship he had with Steven.

While Justin Assanti may allege that the Steven Assanti fans saw on TV is the real him and that his behavior off-screen is no different, Steven has a different narrative. In an exclusive 2020 interview with Nicki Swift, Steven offered some opinions about the way in which TLC portrayed him and how the network filmed the show. Although Steven did vouch that everything on the show was real and nothing was scripted, he also claimed the producers did not show the whole picture and only painted him in a negative light.

"They just overdramatize it," he said. "They don't bother showing anything that is, that's good, because they filmed me and my family doing good things too, but they choose to show just the bad things."

While Steven admitted that his behavior was accurate, telling Nicki Swift, "I say it like it is. I don't give a s**t," he also claims they only showed the negative scenes and didn't put in any footage of his good moments.

"They would tell me that they would put it in somewhere, but they don't," Justin said. "What they do is they only show me going crazy, and yelling at people, and taking pain pills, and just all the bad stuff."

While we may never really know what went on behind the scenes during the Assanti brothers' season, at least they are now both leading happier and healthier lives.