BIG IS BEAUTIFUL WHEN OXYGEN AND MO�NIQUE JOIN FOR NETWORK CABLE�S FIRST FULL-FIGURED BEAUTY COMPETITION

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Celebrity Judges Include NBA Great Shaquille O�Neal and Plus-Size Supermodel, Mia Tyler.

The Two-hour Special Premieres Saturday, August 6 at 8 PM ET/PT*

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LOS ANGELES, July 14, 2005 � Oxygen and plus-size icon Mo�Nique (The Parkers) plan to take back the �fat� by offering 10 plus-sized women the opportunity to redefine the face of American beauty in network cable�s first full-figured beauty competition. Premiering Saturday, August 6 at 8 p.m.*, Mo�Nique�s Fat Chance is a two-hour reality special for women with something extra who exemplify how spirit outweighs size.

After a multi-city casting call in New York, Atlanta, and Los Angeles, 10 full-figured finalists will be flown to Los Angeles to participate in �Beauty Boot Camp,� a series of mind and body training exercises focusing on attainable beauty and confidence building. The contestants will compete for the title of �Ms. F.A.T. (Fabulous and Thick)� in front of a panel of expert judges evaluating them on beauty, style, poise, and personality and how those qualities are reflected in each woman�s overall transformation.

�Mo�Nique speaks to a disenfranchised group of women who have been marginalized or ridiculed in our culture. As a successful actress-comedienne, everything about her is big and bold from her humor to her dress size and she is proud of that,� says Debby Beece, Oxygen President of Programming. �We love all women for their talents and their quirks, so our message isn�t about change, it�s about self-acceptance.�

Both NBA great, Shaquille O�Neal and plus-size model, Mia Tyler will serve as celebrity judges for the upcoming special.

O�Neal is one of the most respected superstars in the NBA today. The Miami Heat center has been voted one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history to date. Besides winning multiple championships and MVP Awards, he is also an Olympic gold winner for the 1996 Atlanta games.

Tyler is the daughter of legendary Aerosmith frontman, Steven Tyler and is one of the most sought after plus-size supermodels in the United States. Recently, she was a cast member on the first season of VH-1�s Celebrity Fit Club.

Creator and Executive Producer of Mo�Nique�s Fat Chance, Mo�Nique is the recipient of four NAACP Image Awards� for her work on the hit UPN sitcom, The Parkers. She is also the first female host of the acclaimed Saturday night series, It�s Showtime at the Apollo and served as host for the 2004 BET Awards. Her film credits include Baby Boy, Soul Plane, Hair Show, and the special The Queens of Comedy. She will next be seen in the 2005 motion picture, Domino.

Both Don Weiner and Steven Imes serve as executive producers for the special. Weiner comes from an extensive reality television background. He served as the executive producer for both UPN�s The Player and Fox Television�s The Swan. He was also the reality consultant for Miss America 2004. Imes is currently the associate producer for It�s Showtime at the Apollo He has executive produced Mo'Nique�s One-Night Stand for DVD, the motion picture Hair Show and the upcoming feature film Phat Girlz.

Kristen Connolly Vadas is the executive in charge for Oxygen Media. At Oxygen, Vadas has also supervised Nadine in Date Land, Girls Behaving Badly, Good Girls Don't, Naked Josh, and Oxygen�s comedy/reality series Mr. Romance.

About Oxygen Media

Oxygen, the only cable network owned and operated by women, is currently available in 55 million homes. The network was launched in 2000 to fill a void in the television landscape -- creating a network targeted to younger women. The fastest growing independent network, Oxygen became profitable in 2004. Oxygen is rewriting the rulebook for women's television, with the most original programming of all the women's networks including Oprah After the Show, Talk Sex with Sue Johanson and Girls Behaving Badly. Geraldine Laybourne, the network's founder, Chairman and CEO, has led the company to be a strong advocate for women. Through programs like The Mentor's Walk, Oxygen's national program for bringing along the next generation, and "Who Cares About Girls," Oxygen's new documentary series -- Oxygen is creating The New Girls Network.