Alison Sweeney Recalls This ‘Horrible’ Part of Hosting ‘The Biggest Loser’

The documentary was interesting enough.

I wonder why Caroline Rhea wasn’t interviewed or discussed at all. The documentary claimed they had reached out to Jillian Michaels and she had not replied, but they barely mentioned Caroline at all.

Did the show change between the time Caroline hosted and when Alison did? I did not watch regularly, but I got the sense it got more cutthroat.

MAGA cunt.

Redundant.

Also why did they replace Caroline with Alison ?

From my perspective, the host was the least important element. Shoud

She has the eyes of an alien. The show seemed to be building toward something bigger than caffeine pills. The graininess seemed like assholes who went well beyond their expertise. The doctor seemed Shay and the producers just seemed gross.

R6 I don’t blame Alison.

[quote]Also why did they replace Caroline with Alison ?

There could have been several reasons.

1. Alison was younger and thinner than Caroline, who was starting to look like she could become a contestant on the show.

2. NBC may have hoped that the popularity of The Biggest Loser would attract viewers to Alison’s other show, Days of Our Lives, where she portrayed scheming Sami Brady.

I suspect (1) R9, though I am not sure.

Netflix recently released Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser, a docu-series chronicling the infamous weight loss show, The Biggest Loser, bringing back the conversation of why Alison Sweeney chose to leave the series. Sweeney appeared in the documentary as well and addressed that she did not leave the show due to the controversies surrounding it.

Alison Sweeney on why she had to leave The Biggest Loser

Alison Sweeney took over the role of the host from Caroline Rhea after the first three seasons. Sweeney worked in the show for around eight years before she left in 2015. At the time, she had explained her decision to People, saying, “Times change and situations change.” She continued, “It’s a tough time in TV and producers have a lot of tough choices to make in the landscape. We talked and it wasn’t an easy decision. It was just the right time for me to do something different.”

She did not disclose the exact reason she left, but it did coincide with the time the perception of the show started shifting.

In The Biggest Loser, contestants were pitted against each other in a 30-week competition to lose the most weight for a huge cash prize. The rush to shed weight often saw contestants adopt dangerous methods. Over the years, the perception of the show changed completely, and many started pointing out how the show was counterproductive in more than one way.

Things started to change dramatically after Rachel Frederickson won The Biggest Loser Season 15, where she lost 155 pounds, leading to concerns amongst viewers. A couple of years before this, The Biggest Loser trainer Jillian Michaels was also found to be giving contestants caffeine supplements to quicken the process of losing weight.

By the time Alison Sweeney departed, things had taken a turn for the worse on the show and its perception amongst viewers.

In the Netflix documentary series, Sweeney indicated that she did not leave because of the controversy. She said, “When people talk about the show negatively or have critics of the show, I totally understand. I’m not naive or have rose-colored glasses. I see.” She added, “But for me, I think my goal was to have that conversation about health and wellness and giving people that idea that it’s possible.” (via Dexterto)

Tense moment here

r7 I have questions. I'm having a hard time deciphering what you mean with two of your statements (and I did watch the documentary, so I have context):

[quote] The [bold] graininess [/bold] seemed like assholes who went well beyond their expertise.

and

[quote] The doctor seemed [bold] Shay [/bold] and the producers just seemed gross.

Who - or what - are "the graininess" who seemed like assholes? And is "Shay" a new adjective I'm not hip to/haven't heard yet?

I don't have Netflix, won't be watching... question; how many contestants do they interview for the documentary? Are the contestants obese now?

I have a feeling every single person who appeared on that program is back to (and exceeding) their weight when they joined the program.

r15 - I don't recall how many. Seems to me I recall at least 4 contestants were interviewed (2 men/2 women). The two women are "normal"-sized. One of the guys is huge again (I think it was the one who lost the most weight out of the entire Biggest Loser challenge over its run). I honestly can't recall if the other guy was back to being how big he was prior or not. I freely admit I wasn't "glued to the screen" and sort of had it in the background.

Jillian Michaels comes off as such a fucking piece of work. What a bitch she is. But the male trainer is also no prize either.

R16 That’s because she IS a piece of work. And a MAGA one at that!

Netflix docs are awful. They stretch things out too long. They should be 1 hour. Instead they 3. Enough. Get to the point.

R14, I be,I eve those two words were supposed to the trainers and shady.

Jillian is horrible.

r19 I think your assessments/translations are correct. For some reason, my head wasn't getting there to even make those connections, so thank you.

Gillian Michaels is a Cunt and so is Bob Harper.

Bob looks a lot older than his age.

A couple of the participating previous contestants are thin, but towards the end, they said that they take weight loss medication.

One of Bob's contestants was still very hurt about the time he blew up at her in the gym. (She's lucky she wasn't on Jillian's team.). During the interview, she looked into the camera and said, "Fuck you Bob Harper, and your little dog too." (Bob had a small dog in his lap during his interviews for the documentary.)

The documentary made a big deal out of Jillian not calling Bob to check in after his heart attack. Why would they even mention that? Speaking of Bob's heart attack. I wonder why they didn't say what caused it. Was it bad genes? Bad diet? Too much exercise?

I was surprised that before they show, Bob didn't have experience training overweight people. He says he mainly trained Hollywood types who wanted perfect bodies. He also name dropped Julia Roberts as a former student.

Alison is glad she got out. Hallmark is a much better gig.

R23 for reasons well known to him

R14 I’m guessing graininess = trainers and Shay = shady at least from context. Autocorrect is not R7 ’s friend.

I was wondering R27

Still and all, the "news" here didn't seem to justify multiple episodes. The biggest news seems to be that the contestants, attention whores whom they may be, don't seem as dreadful as the average person on one of these "reality" shows.

R29 that was your takeaway?

Jillian is coming with receipts.

R30: It was a nothing burger. Mean trainers. Caffeine pills. People who got fat again. Yawn!

Jillian Michaels recently made the news for defending Trump’s decision to remove African American exhibits from the Smithsonian.

The caffeine pill stunt could have been dangerous to such out-of-shape people. Dehydration can be a very serious matter. She created a huge potential liability problem for NBC.

A vile woman whose looks are starting to match her vile personality.

R33, she did more than that. She minimized slavery. The woman is an abhorrent monster.

Sweeney is also a MAGAT.

[quote]Speaking of Bob's heart attack. I wonder why they didn't say what caused it. Was it bad genes? Bad diet? Too much exercise?

More like meth, K, and a 72-hour party binge where he took all cummers.

And she has at least one adopted black daughter, r34. I hope she isn't being trained to be another Candace Owens.

R31 She is playing the Trump/ Roy Cohn game.

Jillian is following Trump's play book. Sue the fuck out of anyone who challenges you. I've always detested that nasty piece of work. Bob is not a model citizen either. The doc series was definitely bloated...two episodes would have been plenty.

I met Jillian once and she was actually quite nice and friendly.

R40 that a person is friendly in one appearance does not mean much.

I'm sure she's kind to fans. Follow her story and shenanigans and it doesn't matter. She's a proven cunt. Julia Roberts was nice to someone one time too.

Alison still struggles with her weight. She was chunky a couple years ago.

I pretty much forgot Caroline Rhea existed. Was she on that show with a talking cat?

R44 - You forgot about Sabrina the teenaged witch

Caroline Rhea has a sister named Diana aka Di Rhea

R46 Groan

Heart attacks can happen to anyone. If heart disease runs in your family, it doesn't matter if you work out and eat right.

Bob Harper is confusing...I don't get where the money comes from for his rather lavish lifestyle. He has a gorgeous huge apartment in NY and buys very expensive fashion. He earned all this money from The Biggest Loser?!?? Something doesn't add up...was he some rich guy's play toy who got a lot of money that way?

Bob seems...vapid. He's got the foofy dogs and he loves basic musical theater and he loves fashion and being fashionable but all he does is buy all the pieces from his favorite designer's collections. That's not having great fashion sense or artistic taste...that's just shopping.

But, there's also the tacky tattoos. I suspect he's a nasty freak in bed. Maybe THAT's where the money comes from!!! Fisting old rich sugar daddies!

I wonder if they dumpd Caroline Rhea because she was too nice? They replaced her with Alison Sweeny who was very cunty to the contestants.

I'm embarrassed to admit I watched this from like Season 2 to about Season 8 or so then stopped. It was so obviously a TERRIBLE way to lose weight....losing huge amounts very quickly is bad for your body and pretty much always results in gaining all the weight back.

Pigface MAGAT Sweeney

I feel the same way about Harper, R48. My only exposure to him was the period when he was dining out on his heart attack. When I'd see him on talk shows and what not, I would be fascinated by his utter lack of substance. It was as if there was no one in the room when he spoke. With apologies to Julie Newmar, try to describe Bob without using the word "vapid."

The Australian version was AWFUL.

At the time to announce who was leaving that week, the host, Ajay Rochester, would announce “Let’s cut the fat”. 🥴

R49 Was Caroline fired or did she quit?

I think Bob Harper appearing on this docu-series was incredibly stupid. His reputation will be further damaged for sure.

I used to like Bob Harper but I remember being disappointed by him on The Traitors

The blonde on top look doesn't work for Bob.

Jillian Michaels was far and away the absolute worst person to come out of this shitfest.

R57 Yes.