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Cosmopolitan
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
The 12 most shocking bombshells from Fit for TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser
If you've seen Netflix's new documentary, Fit for TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser, then you'll understand why everyone – like, literally, everyone – is talking about the series right now. And, if you haven't seen it, then you need to get onto it pretty sharpish. From headline-making transformations to near-death experiences, and a massive friendship fall out, there's so much drama surrounding The Biggest Loser, which was one of the most popular programmes of the 2000s and 2010s, running for 18 series. It's no wonder then, that Netflix decided to take a deep-dive into The Biggest Loser, interviewing former contestants, coaches, and health experts to expose what it was really like to appear on the hit show. With that being said, here's 12 of the most shocking revelations that Fit for TV uncovers... In Netflix's Fit for TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser, several contestants recall feeling rushed to sign their contracts or potentially miss out on the chance to appear on the show. Season eight cast mate, Tracey Yukich, describes her contract as "very thick", going on to say: "I remember reading it and thinking, 'I am not qualified to read this'." Further to that, she says that when she requested an attorney, producers hinted that a delay like this could put her position on The Biggest Loser in jeopardy. "[Producers said] 'Sure, we can get you an attorney... But I got 10 other people waiting for your spot... So sign it and move on'," she claimed. Similarly, season eight winner, Danny Cahill, describes being "worried" about the terms in his contract. He claims the contract outlined the possibility of death, but regardless, he didn't want to miss out on the opportunity of appearing on this potentially life-changing show. "What do you do? Not sign it and walk away?" he asks. Season two's Suzanne Mendonca also appears in Netflix's Fit for TV. She alleges that The Biggest Loser's producers discouraged her from getting healthier ahead of the show. "They would say, 'No, we don't want you to do that. We want you to gain more weight'," Mendonca says she was told after revealing to producers that she had started exercising and eating a heart-healthy diet. "I wanted to be on the show so badly that I did gain extra weight." Elsewhere in Netflix's documentary series, Mendonca recalls being advised by The Biggest Loser's coaching team to eat as little as 800 calories each day. This is backed up by season eight's Cahill, who adds: "My calorie count was lower than I think it should've been." He goes on, "I was eating 800 calories and burning 6,000 to 8,000 a day. When I lowered the calories, I lost more." In addition to consuming far, far fewer than the recommended daily intake of calories – which varies from person to person, but typically sits between 2,000 and 2,500 per day, according to the NHS – the show's contestants reveal they worked out up to eight hours every day. "The first week, we needed to burn a minimum of 6,000 calories a day. Minimum," says season seven cast member Joelle Gwynn. Explaining how they'd achieve this, Gwynn says contestants worked out for "five, six, seven, sometimes even eight hours a day." In his interviews for Fit for TV, season one winner Ryan Benson recalls intensifying his diet and workout routine so much that, during the final weigh-in, blood was found in his urine. "In the end, it worked out great 'cause I won, but I was doing what most doctors would say were super unhealthy things," he says in the Netflix series. "The last 10 days I didn't put any food in my body. I was doing the master cleanse, just drinking lemon juice and maple syrup, cayenne pepper, all these tricks that are super unhealthy just to cut weight." Benson continued: "At the final weigh-in, we had to do a urine test and they said, 'Ryan, there's blood in your urine,' which obviously means you're so dehydrated." Former coach and presenter for The Biggest Loser, Bob Harper, claims during the Netflix show that producers wanted contestants to be sick on screen. "Producers loved that shit," Harper says. "They were like, 'We want 'em to puke. We want the madness of it all." Backing this up, one of the show's former executive producers says they wanted to make the best TV they could. "One big Kumbaya doesn't make great television, I'll tell you that," David Broome tells the interviewer. As well as sharing her concerns over her contract for The Biggest Loser, season eight's Yukich says she almost died during the first challenge, which saw contestants run a mile to make the cut for the show. "I just cheated death," Yukich says, explaining she contracted rhabdomyolysis – a rare muscle injury where your muscles break down. "Rhabdomyolysis is your body saying, 'I'm going to shut down on you'," she explains. "It started with my liver, then it went to my kidneys and then it goes to your heart. And that's where I almost died." While The Biggest Loser's contestants were only supposed to lose weight through diet and exercise, some allege they were given caffeine pills to boost their stamina and energy. "At some point I was given stackers, and a stacker was like a caffeine pill," says Cahill, who claims these were "approved" by the trainer because it would "probably" help with exercise. This is something that the show's medical advisor, Dr Robert Huizenga, says went against the rules. "Caffiene, a weight loss pill, was absolutely against everything in the show," he says in the Netflix doc. "It was in the show rules, and the patients signed off to that and the trainers signed off to that, and all the producers signed off to that," he goes on. For many of The Biggest Loser's contestants, the weight they dropped during filming didn't stay off. In fact, several of the cast members who appeared on the hit series returned to the weight they were at before appearing on The Biggest Loser. Speaking about his experience, season eight winner Cahill says that despite losing 239 pounds (17 stone, 108 kg) on the show, he later gained this back as he "didn't have it all figured out" when it came to the healthy lifestyle required to maintain it. "The shame that you feel being a failure after being a success, it's a heavy load to bear," he says. Similarly, season one winner Ryan Benson told PEOPLE magazine in 2024 that within three days of the show ending, he had gained "25 to 30" pounds. This number increased as time went on, with Benson adding: "It's no secret that I gained back all the weight." Like the alleged use of caffeine pills on The Biggest Loser, in Netflix's Fit for TV, Dr Huizenga says there were other elements of the show that he didn't agree with. "As the show really got popular, some things were being done that I really took issue with," he explains. "There were times, unfortunately, when challenges were done that I didn't see or hear about." Given that many of The Biggest Loser's contestants have opened up about regaining the weight they lost on the show, it's no wonder that 'aftercare' was allegedly lacking. Cahill claims he reached out to producers to suggest an aftercare programme that would give contestants access to support, recovery, or continued exercise assistance, but didn't get a response. "No one was interested in doing anything like that," he says. Similarly, season seven's Gwynn claims: "They didn't care." In response, the show's executive producer and creator, Broome, says this wasn't possible due to costs. "We would have loved to have aftercare, but we're a television show without endless pots of money," he says. "NBC wasn't going to give it [financing] to us." Just a few seasons before it was cancelled, The Biggest Loser faced its biggest controversy: Rachel Frederickson's dramatic final weigh-in transformation. As we explore here, Frederickson started the series at 260 pounds (18.5 stone, 117.9 kg) and ended up winning the show, weighing in at just 105 pounds (7.5 stone, 47.6 kg). But her shocking weight loss prompted concern from viewers – one journalist described her as having a "now-emaciated body" – as well as criticism, and in Fit for TV, we learn that even the show's coaches were in "horror" over it. "Rachel came out, and she had lost so much weight, it was… shocking," Harper recalls in the documentary. "Jillian and I were just in horror." Fit for TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser is available to stream now on Netflix.
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Netflix viewers left with 'jaw on floor' over 'outrageous' new documentary
The new documentary is now available to stream on Netflix Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser -Netflix trailer Netflix viewers have branded a new documentary as "outrageous" as they have been left with their "jaw on the floor". August 15 saw a brand new docuseries land on Netflix, Fit for TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser, which takes an inside look at the making of the hit competition. The show ran for 18 seasons beginning in 2004 and finishing in 2016, and there was a revival attempt back in 2020. But this three-part series features exclusive interviews with the creators, producers, past contestants and trainers like Bob Harper who were involved in making the show. And fans are hooked as they brand the documentary as "outrageous" and is a must see. One star, who appeared in season 8, Tracey Yukich spoke about her experience on the documentary as she said it was life-changing. During one particular extreme challenge set up by the show's producers, she says she had a near death experience. Taking to TikTok one user branded the documentary as "outrageous" as they added: "Throughout the entire series my jaw was on the floor, I was in a red hot rage." One person commented: "It's really horrific. I actually loved watching the Australian version at the time. How things have changed! Why didn't I see it then?" Another replied: "OMG I literally just finished binge watching this! Awful." In another video, one person said they were left in tears as another replied: "Glad I'm not the only one who just broke into tears." Over on X, one person wrote: "Netflix has been in their bag with these documentaries. This Biggest Loser Doc is crazy." Another said: "Anybody watch that Netflix doc about the Biggest Loser yet? Wow that was one of the saddest things I've seen in a while." A third added: "this biggest loser doc is no joke. I love it. Netflix." Exploring the good, the bad, and the complicated, the series examines the show's approach to transformation and the support systems in place as well as how the experience shaped the lives of those involved on the show after the cameras had stopped filming. A Netflix synopsis reads: "Contenders on "The Biggest Loser" wanted the body of their dreams. Instead, many fell into a televised nightmare. Now, they tell their side of the story."
Fox News
3 days ago
- Health
- Fox News
'Biggest Loser' contestant claims she died while filming challenge as weight loss show reenters spotlight
A contestant on "The Biggest Loser" claims she died when she became unresponsive on the first episode of her season and had to be transported by a medical helicopter to a hospital. A three-part documentary, which premieres on Netflix Friday, covers the inception of the show and the successes contestants had, but also its controversies, like urging contestants to eat less than 1,000 calories a day to lose more weight and bizarre "temptation" challenges with rooms filled with food. In the trailer for the documentary, contestant Tracey Yukich admits that "being on the 'Biggest Loser' is just like winning the lottery," but she later noted her "organs started shutting down" during the show. "I don't remember a lot. I remember hearing the helicopter. I just felt like I was floating, and then my grandpa was there. And then I saw darkness. But then I saw light," Yukich said while being interviewed for the Netflix documentary "Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser." "So, I knew. I knew I died that day." Yukich, who was a contestant on Season 8 of the reality fitness show, had to run a mile on a beach along with all the other contestants for the first challenge of the show. They were told anyone who didn't finish would be eliminated. As she was running, Yukich's body began to shut down, and she fell to the ground, attempting to crawl toward the finish line. Eventually, her teammates carried her across the line in a show of camaraderie, but people quickly realized she was seriously ill. "She collapsed right there on the other side of the finish line, and that's when I realized there was a real problem," "The Biggest Loser" host Alison Sweeney said. Fellow teammate Danny Cahill agreed, saying he "knew something more serious was happening because she was really not responding. "When the helicopter came, we were all scared to death." WATCH: Former 'Biggest Loser' contestant says despite suffering heat stroke on first day of the show, it was rewarding Yukich said when she arrived at the hospital, a doctor told her if her legs didn't drain, they'd have to cut them open to drain them. "I didn't realize that I had rhabdomyolysis, and rhabdomyolysis is your body's way of saying I'm going to shut down on you," Yukich said. "It started with my liver, then it went to my kidneys and then it goes to your heart. And that's where I almost died." When the show's medical advisor, Dr. Robert Huizenga, went to see her, he said she was "incredibly ill" and assumed she would go home. "When I was beginning to wake up in the hospital, I felt dirty. I felt sandy. I could feel the grit in my fingernails," Yukich said. She said she couldn't even get out of bed to go to the bathroom. Huizenga said he told Yukich she was getting better and that she would be going home, "and she was upset. She was angry. She didn't want to go home." Yukich explained she was in an unhealthy marriage, and infidelity was just a "snippet of it." "I thought it was my fault because I was fat," she said. "I knew I had to make some changes in my life in order to be the best version of what I wanted out of life. I don't want to be disrespected. I don't want to be yelled at. I don't want to be harmed. I don't want you to tell me what I can do and can't do. I had to put myself first to do that." Eventually, she decided to stay on the show. "I needed to change my life," she said. "I just cheated death, completely cheated it. Didn't die. It's on." Yukich opened up to Fox News Digital about her experience this week. "As you know, I had a heat stroke the first day I was there," she said. "I was hospitalized for shy of almost four weeks. So, I wasn't there to kind of make those connections with everyone else that they did in the beginning." She said she felt like a fish out of water when she returned to the show, trying to catch up with everyone else. "My experience was extremely hard. I wasn't able to do what everyone else was doing, and I really felt isolated when I was there." But she said the show was rewarding for her because she learned how to feed her body and even how to be a better mom. "Things that I didn't realize made an impact on them as well because they told me, they're like, 'Mom, if you hadn't done that, we probably would have never learned some of the things that you did teach us about calorie counting and how to care for our bodies and how to exercise better," she said. "So, my experience was extremely hard. It was very lonely. And I hated every day of it. But, at the same time, I wanted to be there. So, it's hard to explain that aspect of it, but that is the truth. … I hated everything about it, but I wanted to be there." Cahill told Fox News Digital his experience was "good, bad, ugly, everything." "It was like life, you know," he explained. "Things come at you from different directions. You don't know exactly what you're going to get into. But I'll tell you what, I didn't know what I was going to get into because the workouts were the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. Still to this day, I don't know how I did it." Still, he called it one of the "highlights" of his life. WATCH: Former 'Biggest Loser' contestant says the show was real but didn't tell the whole story Yukich said it was a challenge trying to understand why her body "wasn't working." "Never been sick like that before," she said. "And realizing like, 'I'm a young woman.' I was only 38 at the time, and I had such an accident and something that almost ended my life. And I (was) constantly, every day trying to fight for my body to work so that I could stay there." "For me, I would say that what you saw on TV, it was real," Cahill told Fox News Digital. "It was reality. It was real, but there was a lot of drama and a lot of things that were left out." He said Yukich was misunderstood on the show because little was revealed about what she was going through health-wise. "And those big weight loss weeks, you're not going to do that at home," he added. "So, you can't think that 'I'm going to do what they did on the "Biggest Loser."' And then, you know, when I got home, I actually found that out. It's harder, especially when you have a job, and you've got kids and you've got all that. That six months and three weeks or however long it was that I was there, all of my priorities were me. "You just don't get that in real life. But I will say this. The relationships that I formed on the show still thrive today, and I have a new family. And I wouldn't change a thing." Fox News Digital has reached out to NBC for comment. "The Biggest Loser" ran for 18 seasons. "Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser" is streaming on Netflix now.
The Independent
3 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
Netflix's Biggest Loser documentary sparks criticism over show not prioritizing contestants' health
A new Netflix documentary, Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser, has revealed the extreme conditions and health risks faced by contestants on the weight-loss program. Season eight contestant Tracey Yukich recounted her near-fatal experience, collapsing from rhabdomyolysis, a condition that caused her organs to shut down, after a challenging run. Despite medical advice to send her home, Yukich remained on the show, with trainers reportedly pushing her against the recommendations of the program's medical advisor, Dr. Robert Huizenga. The documentary exposed trainers encouraging dangerously low calorie intake, around 800 calories, and intense exercise, often overriding the medical team's recommended 1,200-2,000 calories. Viewers on X expressed widespread outrage, criticizing the show's alleged prioritization of ratings over contestant health.
Fox News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Former ‘Biggest Loser' contestant says despite suffering heat stroke on first day being on the show was rewarding
Tracey Yukich tells Fox News Digital that she learned a lot about herself on the show. Yukich appears in the new Netflix documentary "Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser."
