Former ‘Biggest Loser’ Contestant Says The Show Is “Dangerous”
Posted on June 21, 2010 at 5:58 PM
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The Biggest Loser Season 3 finalist Kai Hibbard is speaking out on the “dangers” of the weight loss reality show. Kai was on the CBS Early Show today talking about the “reality” of the show.
I have people that come up to me and talk to me and ask me why they can’t lose 12 pounds in a week when I did. When I didn’t. It didn’t happen. It’s TV, I need to take blame and responsibility for the fact that I helped perpetuate a myth that’s dangerous.”
“I’m saying that it would be, most times, longer than a week and I believe once, in my season, it was less than a week.”
She accuses the show of tweaking the “week” lengths and other things in order to make good ratings:
“The weight loss for that show is for ratings. People have to remember that ‘The Biggest Loser’ isn’t a weight-loss camp that happens to be filmed for TV. It’s a TV show that’s made to look like a weight-loss camp. So there was pressure from production and everybody involved in the show to make sure you had as big of numbers as possible every week.”
Kai says she learned some dangerous things on the show:
“I could tell you that before I went on the show, I never learned to dehyrdate to manipulate a scale and I left knowing how to do it better than some fitness competitors I know,” she explained.
Kai, who dropped 118 pounds on the show, says she left the ranch with a poor body image and gained back 70 pounds between then and now.
Her husband says that she came back from the show with her hair falling out and her family (including her mother who is a nurse) confronted her about the unhealthy way she was living.
“I found myself loathing what I looked like the more weight I dropped because of the pressure on me. And I found myself doing things like considering coffee a meal. And because of the mentality that I was surrounded with, and the pressure that was given at that show, it was considered acceptable to behave that way,” she added. “I take full responsibility for everything that I’ve done. But you can’t understand it unless you understand the pressure that was there,” she continued.
So far The Biggest Loser hasn’t repsonded to her allegations. What do you think of the accusations? Are you a fan of Biggest Loser? Does this affect the way you “see” the show?
Photos by WENN
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11 thoughts on “Former ‘Biggest Loser’ Contestant Says The Show Is “Dangerous””:
wow that’s intense. Though I don’t watch the show regularly I felt like it was the one reality show that didn’t try to manipulate and humiliate contestants. Guess I was wrong.
These results are very possible. it’s simple math of Calories in vs. Calories out. Supervised by physicians and trainers around the clock, yes.. this can be achieved. No, this is not the normal way to do it but it can be done.
Watching this show always made me wonder how these severely overweight people do not have heart attacks right there on the treadmill. There is NO WAY it is ok for someone who has lived a sedentary life to go full tilt like they show them doing on the show. Im surprised this is the first person to come forward because I would say many have similar stories.
Losing weight is a psychological issue as much as a physical one. If she wasn’t mentally ready to lose weight, then she’ll gain it all back – doesn’t matter if she’s being pressured on TV or staying at home.
For years health experts have told us that losing too much weight so quickly is not good for you. Of course it wouldn’t make much of a tv show if all the contestants lost were a couple pounds every week. It isn’t enough just to lose weight..you have to learn all the signs that lead to over eating, or grabbing junk food instead of something healthy. It’s not a quick fix, and is something that requires more than a few weeks and a lot of will power. It sounds like she is blaming them for the 70 pound weight gain instead of herself.
I’ve always thought the show was extremely dangerous. It buys into that truly American concept of ‘the quick fix’ which doesn’t work in any situation. Good for her coming out and saying something.
Man that is distgusting that they do this… it sends the totally wrong idea out to those that are genuinely trying to lose weight. I will never watch the show again.
I remember both trainers have told contestants it isn’t about winning the “game” but about getting their life back – and learning good eating habits. Maybe the producers were pushing the contestants a bit too much but for god sakes, being 300 pounds is not okay.
While I’ve never watched the show, I do know that it can be healthy but its likely not. If you work out all day and only eat 1500 calories then you would probably lose 5 pounds a week, but most people cant do that. It is better to take it slow and learn the healthy habits and train your brain first and then add in exercise. If you’re not mentally prepared the weight will just come back because you don’t really know what to do.
I surprised no one came out and said anything about this earlier. Some people need to giant jolt to get them thinking about their weight loss, so for many of the contestant the short term unhealthy life served a better long term purpose. Neither is healthy. better to go to your private doctor and nutritionist and not someone paid by a tv producer.
I agree with Jan. They push them in a way to create drama but also in a way that could kill them, all for a buck.