Buffie “The Body” Lewis, the Georgia-born model who became one of the most recognizable video vixens of the mid-2000s Atlanta and Southern hip-hop scene, recently sat down on The Tamron Hall Show to discuss her unexpected rise, her exit from the industry, and the quiet, hands-on life she lives today.

Born Buffie Carruth on January 7, 1977, in Athens, Georgia, she was the third of seven children. As a teenager she was slender—around 119 pounds and a size 3—before gaining weight into her signature curvy frame in the early 2000s. She graduated from Clarke Central High School in 1996.

Buffie ‘The Body’ Was an Atlanta Video Girl

Public biographies have long listed this timeline, though on Tamron Hall she stated she was already in her early forties during her video-vixen peak (around 2005), a claim that has sparked online discussion because it conflicts with the widely reported 1977 birth year and high-school graduation date.

Her modeling career began almost by accident. While in Baltimore around 2004–2005, she hired a photographer for swimsuit photos intended as a private gift for her boyfriend at the time.

Buffie ‘The Body’ Tamron Hall interview

The photographer posted some images online without her full consent; they spread rapidly on message boards and Yahoo Groups. “I never ever wanted to be a model. Never,” she told Tamron Hall. “I knew about Black Men magazines, I knew about XXL, I knew about eye candy, but it’s not something I was trying to do.”

The photos led to casting in Tony Yayo and 50 Cent’s “So Seductive” video, followed by appearances in videos for artists including Juelz Santana and Jim Jones, covers and pictorials in King, XXL, Black Men, Smooth, Vibe, and The Source, and a role as Big Booty Judy in the 2006 Atlanta-set film ATL.

She also hosted events and was linked in the press to figures in the Atlanta and broader hip-hop scene. She has described that era simply: “Just a video girl… half nude, you know, swimwear and stuff like that.” The money allowed her to buy a home and pay off bills.

By roughly 2007–2008 she stepped away from music videos and magazine modeling, later explaining she preferred not to be defined solely as the woman standing next to a rapper. She shifted into fitness, launching the Bodynomics platform, becoming a National Academy of Sports Medicine-certified personal trainer in 2012, and speaking about body transformation and healthy living.

Personal losses—her younger sister in 2005 and her mother in 2012, both to cancer—also shaped her priorities. In 2015 she married John Lewis; the couple co-founded the Brick Built apparel brand and live in South Carolina.

On Tamron Hall (which aired October 9, 2026), she reflected on leaving the glamorous chapter behind. “The being in front of a bunch of people and hosting events and just all that wasn’t me,” she said. When people ask what she’s doing now, her reply is often: “Nothing. I’m not doing nothing. Like it’s okay to not be doing anything.” She finds ease in yard work, carpentry, home projects, fitness, skating, tennis, and dancing—activities she shares on social media. In her own words from a related post, she accepted the Tamron Hall invitation because the show was interested in “what they saw me doing on social media TODAY… who I am NOW,” not only the Buffie the Body era of 15–20 years ago. Fans who still expect swimsuit shoots or video sets are often surprised by the contrast; she has noted she hasn’t done that work in well over a decade.31

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Lewis also addressed the age perception that surrounded her in the industry. “I was in my early forties but a lot of people didn’t even know that I was that old. Most of the girls who was in the industry with me, all the video girls, they was in their twenties… honey, I was already in forties.” She said the industry “chose” her rather than the other way around, and that saying no to later invitations came easily once she decided the lifestyle no longer fit.

Today she continues creating lifestyle, fitness, and DIY content, runs Brick Built with her husband, and emphasizes an ordinary, hands-on existence over the spotlight. Her Tamron Hall appearance highlighted the sharp contrast between the iconic mid-2000s video vixen image and the woman who now finds satisfaction cutting trees, building projects, and living simply in South Carolina.