The Biggest Loser was a disgusting TV show

[AnxiousApocalypse]

Just been watching Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser on Netflix. Why do people hate fat people like me so much? Someone nearly died while doing the show. Obese people get so much hate and ridicule in society and the people behind The Biggest Loser took advantage of the contestants' desperation. It was just another chance for people to make fun of fat people and profit off of fat-shaming.

The attitudes to weight in general were awful back then. I remember being a very slim teenager and hating my body because of things like the 'ring of shame' in magazinrs where celebrities cellulite etc was circled and ridiculed. I am much older and fatter and have more body confidence now but honestly what those magazines did to a generation was also shameful

I remember You Are What You Eat and Gillian McKeith berating the people on there because of their weight and unhealthy eating habits, whilst glossing over and minimising the psychological and emotional issues some of them were clearly battling.

I also think desperation trumps confidence when it comes to signing up to a reality show like The Biggest Loser.

Also, Joelle and the man who won but put all the weight back on from the documentary played up their personality factors for the audition tape. But when they contacted the producers afterwards for aftercare and support, they were given the silent treatment. Bob Harper's treatment of Joelle was horrible and even after all these years, he was completely unapologetic.

There's a level of apathy when it comes to people who struggle with their weight that still rings true today.

I watched the documentary last night, and I thought it was pretty one sided. Yes we can look back on something from the early 00s through the victim lens of today and find fault, but at the time it didn't feel like it was a programme made to 'shame' or poke fun at fat people at all. Shame fat people into losing weight and saving their life possibly.

I watched every single series, even the ones without Bob and Jillian and it seemed like e genuinely good and positive thing and let's not forget how many people desperately wanted to go on this supposedly 'terrible' show.

Now, granted they could have removed some of the problems of the show by not having eliminations and not having a $250k prize pot, but that show would have been as boring as hell and certainly would not have been the number one show on NBC or whatever it was. At the end of the day they are making a TV show, yes today I imagine there would be much more 'care' taken, you just have to remember this was 'entertainment' not a factual programme with Doctor Christian or whatever.

And some of these people won some amazing prizes, like in one episode in season 7 or 8 someone won a massive motorhome just for winning a challenge!

There was actually a season where the person who lost the least weight went home by default every week (falling under the red line, rather than two falling under the yellow line and getting voted out) and it was pretty boring, honestly.

Tracey clearly had issues going in, and yes she wasn't liked on the show. IIRC that was mainly because she couldn't work out, which the others perceived as laziness. She then managed to wangle immunity and stayed on the show while others who worked hard in the gym went home. No she shouldn't have got nasty comments from viewers but that's still the case isn't it?

Honestly though, I always thought getting 30 stone people to run was a terrible idea, even back then - think of the stress on their joints! But you did see incredible transformations in these people's fitness levels. If nothing else it showed that you could do these things, whereas so many sit on their sofa saying 'I couldn't do that' so there's no point trying.

As for that silly woman who said that because Bob had a heart attack then that just destroys any argument for fat people losing weight to improve their health.... what a bloody ridiculous thing to say. Countless times we heard contestants at the end of the series telling us they were off all the medication they had been on when they started. I wasn't aware that recent medical research had proven that heart disease and diabetes are no longer related to being obese.

And yes personal trainers ARE in part psychologists, because a lot of people's problem with food stem from problems in their lives and relationships with parents etc.

There was a lot of that in the show that wasn't shown in the documentary where Bob and Jillian would take someone aside and talk to them about their problems. Yes they aren't 'trained' psychologists, but you don't need to be to try to help someone, mostly they just 'listened'.

And then there's the guy who put it all back on. I don't know how someone could weigh themselves and be 40 pounds more than they thought they were honestly. But if you lost 200 pounds on the show you sure as shit didn't put it all back on by eating properly and exercising. Sure, you probably weren't going to keep it all off, I totally get that, but come on. Chances are he lost it all and then went back home and started barbecuing ribs again.

Oh there should have been aftercare.... I mean really? How long for 6 months, 2 years, the rest of their lives? How about the guy who won $250k using that money to hire a personal trainer to keep the weight off instead of buying Hershey bars or whatever.

At least Olivia and her sister spoke some sense.

And in case you're wondering, I'm overweight. Lost 4 stone this last year but could still lose another 3.

And if you want to watch a genuinely shocking and truly terrible reality show you should absolutely look for 'Bridalplasty' on YouTube. So terrible I watched it twice.

The host loved to despatch each weeks loser with the damning dismissal...

"You'll still get married... it just won't be perfect."

And the twist at the end was the greatest twist in TV history.

@RobynRB What's the victim lens of today exactly?

The temptation segments in the programme weren't made to depict fat people as idiotic gluttons?

Olivia and her sister appeared to have put some of the weight back on themselves.

That is true about the winner of season 8: he could've used some of the prize money towards therapy, personal training sessions etc.

With the obesity epidemic only getting worse, do you think the show should be brought back with some significant adjustments?

Do I seriously need to explain that?

Yes, some of the weight. People tend to put on weight as they get older... I'm watching Jillian Michaels side of things on YouTube right now. She reckons 35% of the contestants have kept the weight off. Which is pretty impressive.

Yes, I think it should be brought back. But how they could do that in this day and age when fat people are now 'celebrated' and 'own their fatness' I really don't know.
The whole principle of the show was that being fat is 'BAD' and you need to change it. Modern society no longer believes this.

Something about hosing off their make up and taking them back to square one, before he built them back up again by cinching their waists in with a shit wide belt and grabbing their ‘bangers’ 🙄

I loved TBL back in the day. I was young and pretty much watched it for the treadmill puking and huuuuge weight loss in the early weeks.

There was a woman though, (Abby Rike) on the American version who had a terrible story - her husband, 5yo daughter and her 2 week old baby had been hit by a speeding driver and all killed in an instant.

I think she’d (bloody obviously) gained weight after and thus ended up on the show. She’s a motivational speaker now, has a new husband and appears to be going strong. Jillian said on the show that if what happened to Abby happened to her, she’d have killed herself. I have no idea how Abby managed to go on, but she really stuck in my head since.

@RobynRB Surely Lizzo's recent weight loss and even Adele's past weight loss prove that ultimately society still does not view fatness in a celebratory fashion?

What did you think of South Park's Ozempic episode?

What level of fat shaming do you see as good and necessary for the benefit of someone's health?

What is the victim lens of today you mentioned?

I’ve looked up old contestants in the past and although they aren’t as thin as they were at the finale, they are considerably smaller than when they started.
Suzy (season 2?) was interviewed for this and they cut her. She has talked about how she had an eating disorder before and the show didn’t break that so she put the weight back on, so she had a gastric sleeve operation. She doesn’t seem to blame the series though.

I found the woman who said that re: the heart attack insufferably smug throughout the whole thing but the relish she had in describing someones massive heart attack as a "gotcha" moment made me sick.

Yes, and it exposes the whole 'I'm fat and it's brilliant and you should love me just as I am' bullshit for what it is. Yeah sure there are some people that feel that way and if you do and you are willing to accept that you will probably have health issues and a shorter life then fine. My Dad was like that to be honest, he ate what he wanted and he didn't really care, and he lived to 82. But in later life he was diabetic and his knees were knackered.

Haven't seen the South Park episode, just watched a 3m clip... not sure. I am on the fence with Ozempic etc. On the one hand I wouldn't take it myself, I can just imagine in ten years they'll decide that 'Oh yeah, that was a bad idea because actually it causes cancer' or something. But on the other hand if someone is 300lbs then it's probably worth the risk vs life expectancy and quality of life.

I can't really answer that. It depends on the person. Some people will respond to the smallest thing and some won't. That YouTube video was very interesting. Very long, and Jillian Michaels is a bit annoying. But the former contestants brought up some very good points that weren't addressed in the doc. JM also addresses some of the points made by the doc.

And she mentioned how big pharma wants people to believe they are 'victims' that they have a 'disease' and that it's not their fault, because if they can do that, then they can sell you a cure. Which is one reason they want to bash the Biggest Loser because they don't want people to diet and exercise they want them to pay for diet jabs.

TLDW - 47:42

Yeah, she really undermined any credibility that some might have assigned to her there.

I think there is wider understanding now that ‘reality’ TV is fake from top to bottom than there used to be. People have always known what the casting team want and create that or fake it, but for the first decade or so the wider audience perhaps didn’t see that. Tbh we still love to fool ourselves and talk about the shows as if the people on them are in a real situation. Having known someone who went on How to Look Good Naked, they made up their back story, sold it to the casting agent (who obviously just want a plausible story, the last thing they will do is check it’s ‘real’), did the show, kept the clothes. There were still a couple of negative outcomes they hadn’t expected and tbh I found it hard to sympathise though didn’t say anything.

My favourite reality show was Faking It and I swallowed that with total belief. But there was a contestant who didn’t do ‘well’ in the show and refused to be used in ‘where are they now’ shows. I wonder what really happened in that episode.

So Suzy from one of the earliest seasons is talking about it and answer some questions, it’s on her stories so won’t last. She came second and married the winner.
https://www.instagram.com/suzysleeve?igsh=MTMzemh6ZmZheG41cg==

Remember that UK programme fat families with the (ex-obese)jolly presenter calling himself the lard police ... labelling the guests as fatties who sit on their bums too much??

yeah that wouldn't fly now either 🫣

So many people are like this though. For some reason Katie Price is forever popping up on my FB feed and the vitriol on her looks in staggering. She made her fortune on her looks. OK lots of surgery isn't my cup of tea. But people take time out their life to post that hate. People, who I doubt could take in her income from her looks either. Some of their profile pictures are no oil painting yet they are so happy to judge. It's a sad part of human nature.

When there's no consequences too many people take joy in harming others.

The contestants on biggest loser all had long term metabolism issues from an article I read too. I think most put the weight back on.

Before weigh in, I starved myself (the old version of fasting, what’s the difference) when I did SW. I lost 9 stone, calorie deficit and some serious exercise, rode a few horses a day, did 50 lengths in the pool, played a sport against someone fitter than me. I don’t think there was much difference between my version of ‘bootcamp’ and the Biggest Loser. I loved that show, I was inspired by it, the basics were what I did-reduce intake, move more, as we’re always being told by those who have never been overweight, I mean, how hard can it be?!

I think if the show inspired anyone (I used to wish I could go on it) then great. I think we’ve turned into a bit of a ‘woke’ society, we can’t possibly mention certain words. This was a fairly basic format show. I hope it inspired others rather than made them feel helpless.

I used to enjoy watching it but it seemed dangerous to me. Morbidly obese people being made to do strenuous exercise without any sort of build up (literally getting off the coach and having to race along a beach at the start of one series IIRC) - I was amazed no one had a heart attack.

I stopped watching most reality TV after Susan Boyle. She clearly had some sort of learning difficulty and they were laughing at her before she even opened her mouth because of her looks. Then complete shock when she could sing. Bastards.

I’ve never been able to get into reality tv, it just seems exploitative and pointless really. No one is going to watch a show that’s just calorie counting and developing sustainable, sensible habits with moderate exercise. So perhaps the audience wants a bit of suffering. I suspect the sex shows are the new fat shows where the audience cringes along. Virgin island, great sex experiment type stuff.

That said I used to quite like talent type shows, sewing bee, pottery throw down, bake off although it’s all gotten a bit formulaic/ repetitive over the years.

I think she should have had an awful lot more support, I know she didn’t cope well with the subsequent fame. However, should we stop somebody with a learning disability participating in a reality show? She amazed the judges, I have re-watched the initial audition so many times just to hear how amazing she was and to see Smug Simon’s gobsmacked face. I believe she won over every single person on that show, many people would love the fame/money, but there should have been a much more gentle follow up for her.

I agree with this, I think we need to remember that reality shows are entertainment shows. X Factor and BGT show the rubbish acts because it's all part of the entertainment.

If you watch the American ones you can tell they're scripted even the Brown Family in the Alaskan Bush People. If they were boring people wouldn't watch them. Same with the Kardashians, Love Island, Big Brother etc.

I've not seen the show, or the documentary but I might check it out. There were so many shows like that.

Super size v super skinny was the worst.

One morbidly obese person being ridiculed, one clearly anorexic person being ridiculed.

They had ED suffers strip down to undies and plaster casts made of their bodies that they had to display and stare at. One girl fainted while they were doing the plaster cast of her near naked torso.

I wasn’t suggesting she shouldn’t have been on the show. It was more the snideness of their attitude towards her that was awful until she proved herself. The intention was clear from the judges that they thought she was here for their amusement (Amanda Holden was the worst here). Had she been a terrible singer I’ve no doubt they would have torn her apart for the baying crowds. It was a bit of a lightbulb moment for me

I think the reactions from the audience were even worse, having just re-watched it. Pretty awful.