When NBC’s reality show The Biggest Loser premiered in 2004, producers weren’t sure if they could sell America on the idea of weight loss being fun. But what started as a network experiment with less than 500 applicants for its first season became a global sensation. The show ran for 17 seasons, each one upping the ante by getting more and more overweight people to shed pounds on live television in the hope of a cash prize — and a dramatic change in their physical appearance.
While the show was marketed as a life-changing miracle for those lucky enough to participate, by the time the series ended in 2016, it was plagued by accusations of mistreatment, dangerous medical practices, and a harmful portrayal of people who were overweight. In Netflix’s new docuseries, Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser, former cast, crew, and contestants talk about what it was really like to film the series, and why even when people lost the pounds, it didn’t solve all their problems — in fact, it only created more.
“The show wasn’t selling how to get healthy,” Suzanne Mendonca, a Season Two contestant, says in Fit for TV. “The show was selling ‘How do we appeal to millions of people?’”
Here are three things we learned from Netflix’s newest docuseries Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser.
The show’s medical advisor was concerned about the physical challenges
Because The Biggest Loser was a reality show about weight loss — emphasis on the reality TV aspect — contestants were subject to multiple physical challenges in addition to their daily eight-hour workouts. Each of the contestants was overseen by the show’s medical advisor, Dr. Robert Huizenga, who monitored their health as well as treated any on-show injuries.
But Dr. Huizenga says in the documentary that producers’ drive to keep the show entertaining, including continuing to cast people who weighed more and more, put contestants in danger during challenges that didn’t keep their weight or mobility in mind. Huizenga also alleges that many challenges that he thought were dangerous were completed without his feedback or knowledge.
“As the show really got popular, some things were being done that I really took issue with,” Huizenga says in Fit For TV. “It was scary because from Season One, you have women, 200 pounds, men, 300, and it just went in a straight line up. And with that, the ability to exercise [was] a straight line down. So when they do a physical challenge that puts people in harm’s way, that’s where I have to step in.”
During the first episode of Season Eight, contestant Tracey Yukich participated in a one-mile beach run. Participants were told that if they finished the run, they would earn their spot on the show. Fail, and they would have to leave immediately. Yukich says in the documentary that she was determined to join the show and started her run without pacing herself. She quickly faded and had to be carried across the finish line by other contestants. But after getting through the flags, she collapsed and had to be medically evacuated via air ambulance. She was diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis, a muscle injury where your tissue breaks down at a rapid rate and overwhelms your internal organs. But even after being told just how serious her condition was, Yukich was determined to rejoin the cast and continue in the competition.
“I need to get to [The Biggest Loser] ranch,” she says in the documentary. “I needed to change my life. I just cheated death. Completely cheated it. Didn’t die. It’s on.”
Trainers Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper were accused of mistreating contestants — which they adamantly deny
The format of The Biggest Loser largely revolved around competition between two main trainers: Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels. The two coaches split the group of contestants and used their specific methods to encourage people towards more weight loss. When someone won The Biggest Loser, their respective coach won alongside them. Ryan Benson, who won the very first season of The Biggest Loser, claims that during the on-screen celebration, Michael spoke in his ear and said “You just made me a millionaire.”
Several contestants noted that the show’s culture emphasized pushing physical and emotional limits, with coaches frequently yelling or screaming obscenities in their faces during exercises, even if they fell or threw up. Former contestant Joelle Gwynn alleged that she and other contestants were given illegal or harmful pills to help them lose weight faster and keep their energy up during intense and long workout sessions. The culture of the show — making weight loss the main goal in potentially unhealthy ways — was also brought into question during the 2014 season of The Biggest Loser. Audience members were shocked when winner Rachel Frederickson went from 260 pounds to 105, appearing on stage drastically thinner and somewhat unhealthy.
Trainer Jillian Michaels declined to participate in the documentary and has denied many of the claims, including allegations that she gave contestants fat burners and caffeine pills against doctors’ recommendations and told a contestant, “You just made me a millionaire,” after they won the live finale. “Wild how some folks still lie like it’s 1985 before texts and email were a thing,” she posted on Instagram on Aug. 19 alongside screenshots of email exchanges between herself and production staff, ostensibly disputing the claims made in the series.
While Harper, who participated in the docuseries, acknowledges that many of the challenges and training methods were developed to entertain audiences, he says he stands by all of his actions during filming. “I would never put anyone in harm’s way, giving drugs or pills to the contestants. It’s all just madness,” Harper says in the show. “I will stand behind everything that I’ve ever done on that show. I am proud of what I’ve done.”
While The Biggest Loser had an incredibly high success rate for weight loss, several contestants say they were abandoned once the show finished filming, leaving them without any resources or help that could have aided them in keeping the weight off or transitioning back to real life.
When Danny Cahill signed up for Season Eight of The Biggest Loser, he thought it was a chance to change the numbers on the scale and his life at the same time. He lost 240 pounds while on the show, winning the finale and the $250,000 grand prize. But when he returned home, he quickly began to gain the weight back and developed a low metabolic rate, something he blames on the show’s aggressive tactics. “We were gaining weight even while we were working out,” he says in the series. “And we knew something was up.”
When Mendonca returned after a stint on The Biggest Loser, she says that she came back with a crippling eating disorder and was unable to get out of bed for the first two days because of sheer exhaustion. Even after she seemed to recover, she quickly began to avoid social situations and eating entirely. It’s a story echoed by many people who left the show excited, only to end up feeling used and exploited on national television.
“It’s almost like we’re the forgotten ones,” Mendonca says. “You love to watch us but you sure don’t want to know what’s happened after the fact.”
