6 days ago
The Biggest Loser's Bob Harper uses Netflix doc to reveal a secret about his trainer past before joining TV hit
Years after the end of the NBC reality hit The Biggest Loser, secrets have begun to come out about the weight loss reality show, including the qualifications of the trainers.
The NBC show aired from 2004 to 2016 and followed obese people as they attempted to lose weight as quickly as possible using only diet and exercise, with the help of celebrity trainers, including Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper. The person who lost the most weight took home a $250,000 cash prize. The show was a hit and helped inspire many to undertake their own weight-loss journeys.
In a new Netflix documentary,Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser, the three-episode feature interviews with the reality show's former contestants, trainers and producers discussing what went on behind the scenes and how the show itself came to fruition. The documentary is set to debut Friday.
'I had first heard about the making of The Biggest Loser, a show that you only have diet and exercise to work with, and I thought, 'Oh, well, that's interesting,'' Harper recalled his involvement in the show.
Despite the trainer's now-large association with the show and weight loss, he had 'never worked with obese people.'
'I worked with very fit people who were trying to be a size zero or have a six-pack,' he said. 'It was a huge wake-up call for me.'
Throughout Harper's time on the reality show, he was seen aggressively yelling at contestants as they worked in the gym while also trying to be their pseudo-therapist, despite his lack of qualifications to handle mental health concerns.
'When it comes to The Biggest Loser, always remember we were trying to make an entertaining show that was on prime time network television,' Harper said. 'What's more important for weight loss? We all know it's diet. But that becomes boring television.'
He continued, 'You know what's not boring television? To see us in a gym, yelling, screaming, that's 'good TV.''
In addition to the rigorous workout regime, which meant being in the gym and exercising anywhere from five to eight hours a day, the trainers were also in charge of creating meal plans for the contestant, which sometimes went against medical advice.
'Dr. Robert Huizenga came in and told us, 'You may hear how many calories to eat, but I'm gonna tell you the right thing, the healthy thing to do,'' season eight winner, Danny Cahill, recalled on the documentary.
According to Huizenga, despite regularly telling the contestants that they should be eating anywhere from 1,200 to 2,000 calories a day, the contestants relied more strongly on what their trainers told them, which was to eat around 800 calories.
'A lot of people in the medical profession, some might say they have a God complex,' Harper said. 'But no one was going to tell us what to do when it came to diet and exercise. It was our meal plans and it was our exercise program.'
Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser will be available to watch on Netflix on August 15.
