Spoilers for Fit for TV
Fit for TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser is a three episode docuseries about The Biggest Loser, a reality show competition which aired on NBC from 2004 to 2016. Fit for TV premiered on August 15th and is currently the most-watched TV show on Netflix in the US. Several contestants, the creators, the show’s doctor, host Alison Sweeney and trainer Bob Harper were interviewed. Trainer Jillian Michaels wisely declined to be interviewed. (She’s been going full MAGA and I’m sure she would have come across as poorly as she does on the show and on social media.) The only people behind the show who seemed somewhat sympathetic were Sweeney and Dr. Robert Huizenga, who said that he pushed back on some of the crueler stunts, when he was made aware of them. The idea for The Biggest Loser came from a bulletin board note in a gym which co-creator/personal trainer Dave Broome saw from an obese man asking for help. Broome emphasized this point, even as it was clear that he made no effort to reach out to the man. Kudos to the filmmakers for underlining how ridiculous this was, and how the show dehumanized people and put their health at risk by gamifying weight loss.
People Magazine has a quick writeup with quotes from Fit for TV from Dr. Huizenga. Dr. Huizenga’s experience as a doctor for The Steelers helped shape the direction of The Biggest Loser, which used punishing workouts because they made for dramatic television and quick weight loss.
In Netflix’s three-part docuseries Fit for TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser, which premiered Friday, August 15, Dr. Huizenga, a former team doctor for the then-Los Angeles Raiders, said his experiences at the intersection of medicine and the professional sports world helped shape the weight-loss reality show.
“The Biggest Loser was totally sculpted after my experience with the Raiders and the only question was is it possible for an overweight, sedentary person to work out, not with the ability of a professional athlete, but with the intensity of a professional athlete?” Dr. Huizenga says on the show.
Still, as the series progressed and showrunners faced pressure to maintain viewers’ attention through 17 seasons, he says he became increasingly worried about the physical challenges contestants faced.
“We had a 99.9% success [rate] in losing weight. That was really an incredible discovery,” Dr. Huizenga recalls. “But as the show really got popular, some things were being done that I really, I really took issue with.”
“It was scary because from season 1, you have women — 200 lbs., men — 300, and it just went up, straight line up. And with that, the ability to exercise, 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,” he says.
Looking back, Dr. Huizenga said he was not always aware of every aspect of the contestants’ experiences.
“There were times, unfortunately though, that challenges were done that I didn’t see or hear about, which was the main hang-up to making it a much safer environment,” Dr. Huizenga said.
Going into this series, I had a positive impression of Bob Harper as “the nicer trainer” on The Biggest Loser. I’ve admittedly only seen two or three episodes in full. Fit for TV showed Harper on season 7 befriending and then targeting a Black woman, Joelle Gwynn, whom he singled out for some of his harshest criticism. He continued to defend his behavior in these new interviews, without a shred of recognition for how problematic he was 16 years ago. Joelle was also interviewed and you could see how hurt she was by having to go through that. The contestants’ emotions still seemed raw, many still had significant trauma, particularly a woman named Tracey Yukich who experienced life-threatening rhabdomyolysis during a challenge and had to be airlifted to a hospital. Still, the co-creators defended the show and Broome even said he’d do it again without prize money, since so many people are desperate to lose weight.
Fit for TV came to the conclusion that The Biggest Loser couldn’t be made today, because Ozempic and GLP-1 agonists have made weight loss much less dramatic. I’d like to think that it couldn’t be made today because emotional and physical abuse are no longer acceptable on television. There have already been several real-life versions of Squid Game though, so that is no true at all. Multiple people saw a fictional show about people being murdered for entertainment and thought they should make it real.
Photos credit Netflix press
Did they cover the study that was done on former show participants? They found that participants metabolisms were permanently damaged from this, and that they need to take in fewer and fewer calories just to maintain their weight, and it seems directly related to the methods (low calorie, high activity).
A bunch of a holes made tv abusing overweight folks, I’m just glad it’s not still on. My dad has lost 100+ pounds in the past year, and no longer has to inject insulin after 20+ years. He’s on monjourno, lost 20ish pounds without changing his diet, and then suddenly was able to change his diet to what it “should” be, and stay on it. It’s truly miraculous, after watching him struggle with his weight my entire 45 years (he’s mid 70s). He has a continuous glucose monitor that helps him manage his blood sugar, and it’s been amazing to see. Shout out to glp1!
Yes, they did talk about that study at the end.
Congrats to your dad – that’s amazing!
Thanks!
You’re right that pretty much everyone came across badly. The doctor and Sweeney didn’t cover themselves in glory. But they weren’t the complete assholes the two creators were. And Bob. What a letdown he became. One who really believed his own publicity. As for Michaels, it was clear she never gave a shit about the contestants. She was in it for her and demonstrated by telling the first winner, thanks, he just made her a million bucks. I still can’t believe CNN are platforming the b*tch now.
She said that?! I never saw the show, I thought its premise seemed really mean–more about making TV by humiliating instead of really helping people. It’s a wonder they got most everybody to participate in the documentary. Or are they still oblivious to the harm they caused?
I never watched the show because I thought it was sending the wrong message. Jillian and Bob are abusive a-holes and everyone thought it was fine to treat overweight people like this because many feel they deserved to be shamed. I remember the clip of him yelling at Joelle and he still thinks that sh@t was funny. He did nothing to try to quell the tension between Joelle and her friend and just stood there with a smirk on his face. Many of the people have suffered from being verbally and emotionally abused and Joelle hinted at what he was doing to her was triggering. I think that is why she just shut down when he was making everyone run for 30 seconds on the treadmill. He befriended her and then turned around and humiliated her in front of everyone. They should have had therapist and a registered dietitian on that show.
The fact that Bob sitting there with a smug look on his face saying Dr H had a God complex simply because he wouldn’t go along with his dangerous diet plan told me he has learned nothing from that experience.
Coach Bob came across like a legit James Bond style villain! Sitting there with his toy dog on his lap glittering jewelry and smirking/laughing evilly recounting how awfully he treated a Black woman who did nothing to him but ask for his profession help!!! That heart attack was karma and yet he has taken nothing from it but to double down on his negativity!
He doesn’t deserve that cute dog!
What’s up with all of these three part docu-series? I was shocked at how Bob yelled but I did not feel sorry for Joelle because I saw the frustration with her friend and remembered that she asked her friend onto the show then let her down. I was on board with man in orange shirt til I peeped his hat in a photo of him and his wife… it had a 45 and a 47 on it🙄
I never watched it but a friend’s nephew was on the kid/teen edition and he had a really positive experience. Would be interesting to see where they are now too. My friend She said was difficult but that he learned a lot, had good support during and, more importantly, for quite some time after. While he naturally gained some of it back, overall he has maintained a healthy weight, and habits, a decade plus after and he’s still using much of what he learned from the experience.
Good to hear the kids version was better, I figured there were a lot more safeguards and people were nicer to them.
1. Lol he was total evil villain with the dog on the lap
2. The study was so interesting and they didnt give it justice on the show. The study was clearly a pilot study. The sample size was 14 people. It did not follow them long-term and didnt include a control condition. It was still a valuable study but in the show they should have included if the effects were long term or short term and if further research has demo strated whether 1. this effect only occurs to those with rapid weightloss who were previously obese or those overweight 2. Would this happen if the weightloss was gradual as well 3. What is the “tipping” point at which your metabolism is wrecked 4. Can it be “put back” after time…. Anyway it left more questions than answers and idk if its bc its since been fully or partially debunked and they wanted more drama or if the biggest loser producers wouldn’t let them put it all out there
3. Joelle was a problematic character for many reasons. Bob lost his cool. If Jillian did that no one would care bc she was never the “nice” trainer. I felt so bad for Joelle’s friend.
4.i cant believe they made them work out 8 hours a day! All those people are amazing for being able to do all of that.
I never watched the biggest loser because it just seemed like a cruel way to gawk at and mock overweight people. This doc, on the other hand, is fascinating and pretty much reaffirms my opinion, although it was interesting to hear from former participants who loved watching the show and were desperate to go on because they thought it would help them.
I watched this show obsessively in college and remember when Caroline Rhea was the host and got dropped since she was too nice and “fat”. I’ve always been fat and in the era of heroin chic it was rough being a size 10/12 and I wanted to lose weight. I had that stupid Jillian Michael’s 30-Day Sheri DVD and I felt terrible that I couldn’t lose weight fast like on the show. It contributed to an ED that I’m struggling with like 20 years later. I’m interested in watching it, but I don’t know how rough it’d be.
I watched one season of it with my mother, and that was the end of it, but I was horrified to have participated even that far in retrospect after reading an article about a decade back from one of the contestants. A lot of them have permanent injuries from it because they were doing routines well outside the acceptable parameters for medical clearance for their weight and health. I’m sure some went on to be okay and maybe were even thankful for the intervention, but in retrospect…wow, that we thought it was acceptable to turn that into entertainment. It’s in the same arena as shows like Kate Plus Eight and 19 Kids and Counting for me. Material that just should not be made into public spectacle when you give it serious thought.
Once I learned weight loss is in the kitchen. My whole world changed. You can’t out exercise bad nutrition.
I always hated this show. Learning good nutrition is boring so they made them work out 24/7. Shame on those trainers who knew it was wrong. But took the job for a buck and raising their media profile.
It was just fat shaming for entertainment. Wrapped in a game show.
Bob and the producer came across really bad. REALLY bad. Bob seemed almost gleefully mean.
Joelle looks amazing. And her comments about being screamed at making her shut down, because that’s how she ended up where she was to begin with, got to me.
I didn’t know Jillian went maga. Not totally shocked, but yuck. But she was probably smart to steer clear of this, no one involved with making it (contestants aside) came off well.
That poor woman who was airlifted, you could see how traumatized she still was by the whole thing.