If you were troubled by the reality show during its run (2004-2020), the word “troubled” will likely turn to “appalled” once you learn what we know today.
I didn’t watch a second of The Biggest Loser, the phenomenally successful reality TV show (2004-2020) that challenged its overweight participants to lose alarming amounts of weight in a short time. It was out of pure curiosity, then, that I watched Fit for TV, the three-part doc that takes the show’s 17 seasons as its subject.
I binged the three (approximately) 40-minute segments of Fit for TV. Besides a handful of disturbing moments, it went down smoothly.
The Netflix documentary, Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser (2025), struck me as even-handed, features interviews with contestants, show staffers, including medical personnel, and two of the show’s creators, as well as actual show footage. Ultimately, though, nothing too startling is revealed. Much, if not all, of the information had already been reported or shown on the show. However, the fresh interviews offer interesting and, yes, entertaining perspectives on The Biggest Loser experience.
The Biggest Loser launched spinoffs all over the world, was a merchandising juggernaut, and made stars of its fitness trainers: Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper. While Harper appears often in the doc with his dog, Michaels is a no-show. After 17 seasons, the show was canceled after ample backlash, including a sensational New York Post article alleging illegal substance usage by contestants. (This article has been expunged from the internet.) As far as substances, caffeine pills appear to be the strongest taken. In this instance (and others), Fit for TV appears to vindicate its subject.
Courtesy Netflix
At its height, thousands applied for the opportunity to be transformed. The few “lottery winners” were whisked off to a hotel and handed a hefty contract. If you requested a lawyer, you were told–at least according to one contestant–that there were plenty of others raring to step in. As far as weight loss, diet is most crucial.
However, a show about not eating would get weak ratings, so exercise became The Biggest Loser’s focal point. Drama ensued, much of which is featured in Fit for TV. During a mile-long beach run, contestant Tracey Yukich collapsed and was airlifted to intensive care. Conspicuously, the show’s doctor, Robert-
I didn’t watch a second of The Biggest Loser, the phenomenally successful reality TV show which challenged its overweight participants to lose alarming amounts of weight in a short amount of time. It was out of pure curiosity, then, that I watched Fit for TV, the three-part doc that takes the show’s 17 seasons as its subject. I binged the three (approximately) 40-minute segments of Fit for TV. Besides a handful of disturbing moments, it went down smoothly.
Fit for TV, which struck me as even-handed, features interviews with contestants, show staffers, including medical personnel, and two of the show’s creators, as well as actual show footage. Ultimately, though, nothing too startling is revealed. Much, if not all, of the information had already been reported or shown on the show. However, the fresh interviews offer interesting and, yes, entertaining perspectives on The Biggest Loser experience.
Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels (photos courtesy Entertainment Weekly)
The Biggest Loser launched spinoffs all over the world, was a merchandising juggernaut, and made stars of its fitness trainers: Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper. While Harper appears often in the doc with his dog, Michaels is a no-show. After 17 seasons, the show was canceled after ample backlash, including a sensational New York Post article alleging illegal substance usage by contestants. (This article has been expunged from the internet.) As far as substances, caffeine pills appear to be the strongest taken. In this instance (and others), Fit for TV appears to vindicate its subject.
At its height, thousands applied for the opportunity to be transformed. The few “lottery winners” were whisked off to a hotel and handed a hefty contract. If you requested a lawyer, you were told, at least according to one contestant, that there were plenty of others raring to step in. As far as weight loss, diet is most crucial. However, a show about not eating would get weak ratings, so exercise became The Biggest Loser’s focal point.
Drama ensued, much of which is featured in Fit for TV. During a mile-long beach run, contestant Tracey Yukich collapsed and was airlifted to intensive care. Conspicuously, the show’s doctor, Robert Huizenga, was not present for the event. Not surprisingly, Dr. Huizenga, who, along with Tracey, is interviewed extensively for the doc, was often at odds with the show’s producers. Fortunately, Tracey survived and returned to the show, where she was ultimately cast as the show’s villain. After all, this is reality TV. Post Biggest Loser: Tracey ran the Boston Marathon with Dr. Huizenga.
Often, Michaels and Harper, who often served as pseudo-psychologists to their charges, didn’t deliver their coaching with Richard Simmons TLC. Specifically, Harper loudly berated one contestant, Joelle Gwynn, another Fit for TV interviewee. To this very day, Joelle still harbors a grudge. There’s plenty of puking footage and of contestants collapsing in Fit for TV. Besides Tracey, no one appears to have been seriously injured.
When food was incorporated into the series, it was used more as kerosene than fuel. For one challenge, the biggest eater won a trip home. What were The Biggest Loser producers thinking? Well, simply, an overweight person waddling around with a donut in their mouth makes good TV.
Perhaps eyeing a reboot, Biggest Loser creators David Broome and JD Roth — who are both noticeably gaunt — appear in the doc. Mostly, they come across as, well, TV producers, not benevolent nutritionists. To his credit, Roth does take accountability for the insensitive food-related challenges. However, regarding the non-existent aftercare for its former contestants, Broome seems disingenuous, pleading poverty. C’mon.
Post Biggest Loser, surprise, surprise, many contestants – it’s tough to provide an exact percentage – regained their weight. Also, The New York Times alleged that many had damaged their metabolisms. (In the documentary, contestants said they may have had damaged metabolisms beforehand.)
Would the contestants do it all over again? Some definitely wouldn’t, while others seemed game to reconsider. By now, they know the score: reality TV is a cesspool, and cutting weight isn’t a piece of cake.
View the trailer for Fit for TV below. Watch the full documentary on Netflix.
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Jon Hart is the author of Unfortunately, I Was Available, the undeserved sequel to Man versus Ball: One Ordinary Guy and His Extraordinary Sports Adventures.
