Jillian Michaels slams 'Biggest Loser' documentary, puts co-star Bob Harper on blast for friendship demise

Fox News

2 days ago

Jillian Michaels has a bone to pick with Netflix's latest documentary, "Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser."
Just days after the explosive docuseries premiered, the fitness trainer - who appeared on the NBC show from 2004 to 2011, but did not participate in the documentary - took to social media to refute a series of claims made by former contestants, co-star Bob Harper, executive producers and the show's in-house doctor at the time, Dr. Huizenga.
One controversial topic Michaels took issue with included claims that she and other trainers went against show rules and distributed caffeine pills to contestants.
"Here is an email chain with @bobharper - the Biggest Loser's producers - @drhuizenga's guy… who stayed on set with us and distributed the fat burners about which 'fat burners' / caffeine pills to purchase the contestants," she wrote on Instagram, alongside screenshots of alleged emails from 2009.
Michaels said this "one email of many" shows that, "Dr. Huizenga did approve caffeine pills on many seasons of Biggest Loser. Bob Harper not only knew about the caffeine pills, the 'stackers fat burner' were actually his suggestion."
Additionally, said Michaels, "Caffeine was NEVER banned on The Biggest Loser.""Wild how some folks still lie like it's 1985 before texts and email were a thing," she added. The last image shows an alleged text message she sent to Harper, who claimed in the documentary that Michaels never reached out to him after he had a massive heart attack in 2017.
"And, the last image is my second to last text ever to Bob Harper. Take from it what you will," she wrote, alongside a screenshot of an alleged text to Harper in 2014.
"I really think it's s---ty of you to not even respond to my texts. It's this kind of thing that always makes me so disappointed my our [SIC] relationship," the text message reads.
In the documentary, Harper claimed Michaels seemed to have ghosted him and their friendship.
"How do I put this? People were always like 'You and Jillian have been so close', and I was like, 'Well, we were really close on television,'" he said. "After I had my heart attack, she's the one person I never heard from. So, I mean, that to me spoke volumes."
"It was one of the hardest things I've ever gone through. I was dead on the gym floor for nine minutes," he added.
In a separate Instagram post, Michaels refuted another major claim made in the documentary.
"In response to the claim in the documentary that I told a contestant at the show's finale, 'You're going to make me a millionaire,' I want to state unequivocally that this is false," she wrote, alongside more receipts. "The full moment was captured on camera, and both the contestant and I were wearing microphones. If such a comment had been made, it would exist on the audio record."
"Furthermore, two of the show's executive producers, Mark Koops and Dave Broome, have each provided written statements in text messages to my business partner confirming that this exchange never occurred," she added. "For clarity, below are their texts verifying that no such comment was ever made."
That's not all.
Former contestants also alleged that they were encouraged to eat less than 1,000 calories a day to lose more weight, an allegation Michaels vehemently denies.
"With respect to the allegation that I restricted contestants from eating enough calories: I have an example of a direct written correspondence with a contestant, while she was home for the holidays during filming, in which I explicitly instructed her to consume 1,600 calories per day," she wrote, alongside a screenshot of an alleged email between her and the contestant.
"Additionally, the two other emails posted here are standard communications with the show's producers and medical staff, emphasizing the ongoing priority of ensuring contestants were adequately nourished and the need to provide a steady supply of fresh food in the BL house to guarantee ready access to calories."
Regarding former contestant Rachel Frederickson's appearance during the season 15 finale, Michaels - who previously voiced her concerns over Frederickson's controversial and dramatic weight loss at the time - shared an email she allegedly received from the then-Chairman of NBC Entertainment.
"Not only did I never once get the opportunity to personally work with Rachel Frederickson in any capacity - I raised serious concerns both publicly and to NBC directly about contestant health and the condition of Rachel in particular at BL's Season 15 finale," she wrote in a caption, alongside an alleged email from the NBC executive at the time.
"In that email, he made clear that if I did not publicly condone the appearance of contestant Rachel Frederickson at the show's finale, NBC would pursue legal action against me. I resigned from The Biggest Loser shortly thereafter," she concluded.
Representatives for NBC, Netflix, Harper and Michaels did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.