Michelle Buteau Takes PEOPLE Behind the Scenes on “Survival of the Thickest'”s Final Season: 'What a Time' (Exclusive)
Michelle Buteau Takes PEOPLE Behind the Scenes on “Survival of the Thickest'”s Final Season: 'What a Time' (Exclusive)
Raven Brunner, Raven Brunner and Michelle ButeauMon, March 9, 2026 at 8:40 PM UTC
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Michelle Buteau on the set of 'Survival of the Thickest' season 3.Credit: Vanessa Clifton/Netflix -
Michelle Buteau takes PEOPLE exclusively behind-the-scenes while filming the third and final season of Netflix's Survival of the Thickest
“We see Mavis in places she never dreamed of going, and then places that she has dreamed of going,” Buteau teases of her character
PEOPLE has an exclusive look at season 3 of Survival of the Thickest in Buteau's own words
Survival of the Thickest is going all out for its final season.
Michelle Buteau, co-creator and star of the Netflix series, takes PEOPLE exclusively behind-the-scenes while filming the third and final season.
“We see Mavis in places she never dreamed of going, and then places she has dreamed of going,” she teases of her character, New York City-based stylist, Mavis Beaumont.
The comedy drama, co-created by Danielle Sanchez Witzel and based on Buteau’s memoir of the same name, premiered its first season in 2023. The audience first met Mavis as she began rebuidling her life after a messy breakup.
With the support of her friends, Khalil (Tone Bell) and Marley (Tasha Smith), the fashionista establishes herself as a high-profile stylist while championing body positivity and inclusivity. She also meets a new love interest, Luca (Marouane Zotti).
While Mavis has embarked on a life-changing journey throughout the series, so has Buteau.
“Writing the book, there was a lot of imposter syndrome that I hadn't experienced before. I was like, 'Why am I writing a book? I can barely finish a book.’ People are writers. I write jokes, but I don't write books. Then I just got in my head and was like, ‘Bitch, you write stories. Just write. And if no one ever reads it, at least you finished it,' " she says.
Then “the right person read it,” Buteau recalls, naming Kristen Zolner at Netflix, who told her, “This needs to be a show.”
“I'm proud of myself for finishing it and listening to my instinct. It's important that creatives stick to their instinct because if it's going to go down, if it's not going to get green lit, if people are going to critique it, at least you can go to bed at night saying, ‘I did what I wanted to do,’ “ she adds.
Executive producer Amy Aniobi and Michelle Buteau on the set of 'Survival of the Thickest' season 3.Credit: JOCELYN PRESCOD/Netflix
Buteau has continued to make moves while working on the show, and this season, she is making her anticipated directorial debut.
“I thought, this is the safest space I'm ever going to do it in. I was able to direct an episode and it was pretty fantastic. It is not often you can find a place and gather people together that make you feel like you're at the tippy top of a rollercoaster, and you're about to go fly and you feel safe. But somehow we were able to put all these people together who totally had my back and I have theirs,” she says. "We created some really important television and the episode was very near and dear to my heart."
Season 3 has several starry guests, including Wanda Sykes, D.L. Hughley, Ashley Graham, Jenna Lyons and Ice-T, the latter of whom Buteau says was “so much funnier than I thought he was going to be.” It also sees the return of recurring actors, Peppermint and Garcelle Beauvais.
For Buteau, working alongside Peppermint and Beauvais has been a highlight. “Peppermint and I have become really, really, really good friends in a way that I couldn't have imagined bonding with anyone so hard,” the comedian says. As for Beauvais, she teases that the actress does “some things this season that I have never seen her do on camera.”
With such great company, saying goodbye was not easy. “The first day of filming [this season] felt like the final day,” Buteau says. “It was like the first and last day of summer camp because we knew. We were all like, ‘It can't stop here. We don't want it to stop here.’ And so every day felt like the first and the last day."
She admits that the decision to end the show “wasn’t up to me, but I was just happy to know.”
“I was so thankful for Netflix to say, ‘We really believe in this show. We're going to do one more season, but this will be your final season.’ That's such a gift that most creatives never, never get. You're just sort of wandering and creating in this dark room of questions that are never answered,” the actress says.
Knowing that season 3 would be the last, she recalls going into it with the mindset, "Let's blow it up and do stuff that we've never done."
When it comes to what fans can expect in regards to the romance between Mavis and Luca, who rekindle at the end of season 2 after a brief separation, she says, “Personally, for me, I always say the way you do one thing is the way you do everything. So Mavis is still taking chances in her career and will do the same in other parts of her life.”
With the show coming to an end, Buteau is reflective of all that it has accomplished both on and off screen. “We had a mission statement," she says. "We wanted to uplift people. We wanted this job to not be a parallel move for a lot of people. And we did that, which was amazing.”
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Along with snagging some artwork and a plus-size mannequin, there’s one special lesson Buteau is taking away from her experience over the years. “One thing I learned about myself from playing Mavis is that I'm f---ing funny and I'm also really sexy,” she says.
Read on for an exclusive look at season 3 of Survival of the Thickest, in Buteau’s own words:
01 of 08
Director Duties
Michelle Buteau and Garcelle Beauvais on the set of 'Survival of the Thickest' season 3.Credit: JOCELYN PRESCOD/Netflix
"While I was directing my episode, my amazing first AD [assistant director] Alejandro Ramia would present my camera angles on an iPad so I could see what I look like on camera."
02 of 08
Together Forever
Marouane Zotti and Michelle Buteau on the set of 'Survival of the Thickest' season 3.Credit: JOCELYN PRESCOD/Netflix
"This was the final scene, series wrap for Mavis and Luca. Marouane and I could not keep a dry eye. We were trying to hold it together and would’ve hugged a tree if there was one on set! We really wanted to mess up our last scene so it wouldn’t end."
03 of 08
Surrounded by Love
(L to R) Garcelle Beauvais, Liza Treyger, Michelle Buteau and Peppermint on the set of 'Survival Of The Thickest' season 3.Credit: JOCELYN PRESCOD/Netflix
"My directorial debut - truly one of the highlights of my life. That and having a clean kitchen.
Question: What’s better than directing your own show with your friends?
Answer: NOTHING!"
04 of 08
Giving Back
Marouane Zotti, Dan Amboyer. Peppermint, Michelle Buteau and Tone Bell on the set of ‘Survival Of The Thickest’ season 3.Credit: JOCELYN PRESCOD/Netflix
"Peppermint and I often volunteer for God’s Love We Deliver, a charitable organization in New York City that makes medically-tailored meals for those who need it. Being able to film in their location for our show with our friends was a dream come true."
05 of 08
A Masterpiece!
Michelle Buteau and Tone Bell on the set of 'Survival of the Thickest' season 3.Credit: JOCELYN PRESCOD/Netflix
"Tone Bell and I are finding physical comedy in a painting scene. If physical comedy was an Olympic Sport he’d win gold across the board!"
06 of 08
In Good Hands
Michelle Buteau and Danielle Sanchez-Witzel on the set of 'Survival of the Thickest' season 3.Credit: JOCELYN PRESCOD/Netflix
"Danielle and I co-created the show together and now she’s directing me in the very world we built!! It’s too much but also just enough!!!"
07 of 08
Celeb Sighting!
Ice-T and Tone Bell on the set of 'Survival of the Thickest' season 3.Credit: JOCELYN PRESCOD/Netflix
"Tone Bell and Ice-T are so hilarious, our script supervisor Erika Sanz couldn’t give them notes without cracking up."
08 of 08
It's So Hard to Say Goodbye
Credit: Vanessa Clifton/Netflix
"Wrapping our season out in Paris, I can’t stop thanking people enough for their time, effort and talent. What a time."
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