The early 2000s were ripe with reality TV programs, and one of the most sensational
premiered in 2004: NBC's The Biggest Loser.
The show continued for another 16 seasons, raking in millions, before quietly disappearing
in 2016.
So whatever became of the winners?
Here's what they look like now.
When Ryan Benson joined the first season of The Biggest Loser, he weighed over 300 pounds.
And after five grueling months of extreme workouts and dietary restrictions, he clocked
in at just 208 pounds.
But once the cameras stopped rolling, Benson started slipping back into old habits almost
immediately.
He told Business Insider,
"In my mind I just thought I've been training so hard I want to eat something I craved for
a few months, a burger, fries, some ribs.
That was one of the things that propelled me to the finish line."
"I just slipped back into my old habits really quick within the next year or two, and within
about four or five years, I'd put back on all the weight."
It turned out Benson had gained back the weight he lost, plus some.
He told Inside Edition in 2017 that he was once again dieting to lose the weight.
"I'm still losing weight slowly and steady, and I don't plan on ever changing."
Today, his Instagram says that he's doing his best to live a healthy, plant-based life.
Matt Hoover debuted on Season 2 weighing 339 pounds.
And by the time we was crowned the second-ever winner, he'd lost 157 pounds.
"I'm not motivated by waking up and saying I look pretty good today.
I need to have something to reach for."
But unbeknownst to viewers at the time, Hoover and third place winner Suzy Preston had fallen
in love on the show.
According to People, the couple said "I do" in 2006 and have since welcomed two sons.
"That show really changed our lives."
By 2010, Hoover had regained some weight, revealing to NBC News Chicago that he weighed
237 pounds.
Preston, too, had gained back over 40 pounds.
In 2011, the couple confessed via YouTube that they feel guilty for not maintaining
their weight loss, but recent pics of the family prove they're doing great together.
In 2006, Erik Chopin became Season 3's Biggest Loser after dropping an incredible 200 pounds.
But he admitted to Us Weekly,
"After about a year and a half, I started to put the weight on.
I got back to 368 pounds.
In my head, it sounds almost the same [as my starting weight]."
Chopin ultimately decided to give dieting another go in the 2010 documentary, Confessions
of a Reality Show Loser.
While he's been pretty quiet about his weight in recent years, he revealed to the Bucks
County Courier Times in 2011 that he was working as a spin instructor and was down to 245 pounds.
As of 2018, Erik is looking good!
After losing 164 pounds on The Biggest Loser, Bill Germanakos was chosen as the winner of
Season 4.
And, like past winners, Germanakos faced big challenges after returning home, telling Today
in 2009,
"I'm a morbidly obese person in a fit body.
I'm hungry all the time."
By the end of 2010, he told Newsday that he was "maintaining about 120 pounds off [his]
weight loss."
Even though he had yet to hit his goal weight of 205 pounds, he was working out and inspiring
others to get fit.
Today, he promotes healthy living and education via his social media.
For the first time in Biggest Loser history, a woman was crowned the winner in Season 5.
When Ali Vincent first appeared on the show, she weighed 234 pounds, dropping to a slim
112 pounds by the finale.
Although she maintained her new body for seven years, she started putting weight back on
in 2015.
Vincent revealed on OWN that she had been assaulted while getting a massage that year,
admitting that she dealt with her feelings through mindless eating and drinking.
She said,
"I don't share this story of me being assaulted because it's an excuse or something I'm dwelling
on, it's something that I'm working through."
Since The Biggest Loser, Vincent has gotten married and started a family.
In 2008, Michelle Aguilar lost 110 pounds to win The Biggest Loser, Season 6.
People reported at the time that Aguilar lost over 45 percent of her body weight, and at
her final weigh-in, she was 132 pounds.
Even though she no longer discloses the number on her scale, she said coming home from the
ranch was even more challenging than filming the show.
She told Life Today,
"A candy bar is just 99 cents away from you and you can choose that.
That, I think, is when the struggle really comes in."
"When I would get really upset or depressed, I thought well if I could just get something
really good to eat, then it'll make me feel better."
In January 2019, Aguilar shared pics from 2009 and 2019, looking just as happy as she
did back then.
At 48 years old, Season 7's Helen Phillips was the oldest person to ever win the competition.
Having shed 140 pounds, her end weight was just 117.
She told Today in 2009,
"Never in a million years did I think I was going to win.
I thought I was either going to die here the first month or they were going to send me
packing… but here I am."
By the time Phillips turned 51, she revealed she was still exercising every day.
"I have completely transformed my life."
When Danny Cahill was announced as the Season 8 winner, he was 239 pounds lighter than when
he started.
But while he may have headed into 2010 feeling like "a million bucks," by 2016, he had put
back on over a hundred pounds.
"When you gain weight back even when you're in school, it's shameful.
When you're in front of America, then it's even, it's ten times as shameful."
Through the process of losing and regaining weight, Cahill's metabolism had essentially
come to a screeching halt.
As The New York Times reported, he has to eat a whopping 800 fewer calories than men
of the same size, otherwise he will gain fat.
At 526 pounds, Michael Ventrella was the heaviest contestant to participate on the show.
But by the end of Season 9, he had lost over 50 percent of his weight, making him the winner
at 262 pounds.
"I'm like an anomaly.
It's crazy.
My body is just bouncing back, and I love it."
Although he expected his life to change exponentially after being crowned the Biggest Loser, things
didn't pan out as he had hoped.
He went through his prize money quickly and struggled to find footing in Los Angeles.
Ventrella also started gaining weight immediately after returning home.
But despite putting on 20 pounds, he had firmly set his sights on bodybuilding.
As of 2018, Ventrella is an independent associate of Isagenix, which specializes in weight loss
products.
Season 10 winner, Patrick House, once told People,
"Had it not been for Biggest Loser, I could be 500 [pounds].
I could be dead, I could have had a heart attack."
During his time on the show, House lost 205 pounds and trimmed down to a slim 219 pounds
by the season finale.
Six years later, he'd gained back nearly 50 pounds, but he doesn't hold the show responsible.
He claims,
"The weight I have gained back is directly proportional to my time focused on diet and
gym time.
The only place to point the finger is at the man in the mirror.
Maintenance is tough, but it's not impossible."
"We need to steer clear of this aisle.
There's nothing good over here for us."
In 2017, Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series shared a video of House participating in their 2017
New Orleans marathon, confirming that the Season 10 winner "continues to embrace an
active lifestyle."
"Actually came in first and second, we won season 11 of NBC's the Biggest Loser."
"High five for us."
The winner of Season 11, Olivia Ward originally appeared on the show weighing 261 pounds.
By the finale, she was clocking in at 132 pounds, and remains one of the very few Biggest
Losers who has maintained their finale weight.
"This has been such a life changing thing for me, and I've been so thankful that I've
been able to hang onto it for almost five years."
In 2017, she shared photos of herself from 2001 and 2017, writing,
"It's never too late… if you want a change go and get it.
I feel better at 41 than I ever did at 21."
Ward continues to work on her fitness goals by also working as a senior SoulCycle instructor
in Atlanta.
"Don't let life just pass you by.
Why not you, why not now?"
When Season 12 began in 2011, John Rhode stepped onto The Biggest Loser scale weighing 445
pounds, and went on to capture fans' attention with his dramatic 220-pound weight loss.
He revealed to Today in 2014 that he'd gained 50 pounds since the finale, but also became
the owner of a CrossFit gym in Arizona.
"Crossfit is all about total fitness.
You're prepared for anything.
You can adapt and overcome.
I'm here so I can learn and so I can share with others."
Nearly 200 pounds lighter, Jeremy Britt walked away the winner of The Biggest Loser Season
13.
"Lemme start with saying I hate burpees."
When Digital Spy asked how he planned to keep the weight off, Britt explained,
"All these things that I've learned have helped me to do that going forward here…
If I do something that keeps me in the public eye, it just keeps me accountable."
However, in the years since his big win, Britt has kept an incredibly low profile.
But according to a Facebook post in 2017, Britt is likely busy with family life.
Danni Allen started her weight loss journey at 258 pounds and clocked 137 at her final
weigh-in.
The Season 14 winner revealed to Today that, by 2014, she'd gained a little over ten pounds
back, but she'd also become a managing partner of a yoga studio, a motivational speaker,
and even ran her first marathon.
"What you can do in just a year can truly shock you."
Allen continues to encourage others to get fit and works on her own fitness goals, despite
having been diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome in 2016, a condition she's likely
had her whole life.
In an interview with Fox 32, Allen also revealed that "losing so much weight so quickly" on
The Biggest Loser had some unintended consequences, possibly impacting fertility.
"Your fat cells are full of estrogen, I lost over 140 pounds worth of estrogen."
Despite her challenges, she continues to live a healthy lifestyle and strives to bring awareness
to P.C.O.S.
Rachel Frederickson, arguably the most controversial winner of The Biggest Loser, took home a $250,000
grand prize after going from 260 pounds to 105 pounds in Season 15.
But many viewers were concerned that she'd lost too much weight.
After having shed 60 percent of her body weight, she revealed to People,
"Maybe I was a little too enthusiastic in my training to get to the finale."
"It's that moment where I had to say, 'I'm gonna embrace being me and being different.'"
She also denied having an eating disorder as some had speculated at the time, according
to the mag.
By April 2014, Frederickson revealed to Us Weekly that she had put on around 20 pounds,
announcing,
"I think I'm at my perfect weight!"
Frederickson has stayed out of the limelight since 2016, but she was looking happy and
healthy at that time.
After being named winner of Season 16, Toma told Us Weekly,
"It's so mind-boggling and overwhelming, I look in the mirror and I still have a hard
time recognizing myself.
Knowing that I've lost, in the last year, over 200 pounds, it's just amazing."
Toma revealed that he started the show at 366 pounds, but that he was 377 pounds at
his heaviest.
Clearly, even he couldn't believe his extreme weight loss.
By 2016, though, Toma revealed in a Facebook post that his weight was "starting to creep
up" on him after sustaining a calf injury a few months prior.
In an effort to avoid returning to his previous weight, he hosted a diet bet to lose the weight
he'd gained.
The Season 16 winner hasn't spoken publicly about his weight since, but shares parts of
his life on Instagram.
Although viewers weren't aware of it at the time, Roberto Hernandez would be the last
person to ever win The Biggest Loser.
Hernandez weighed 348 pounds when he first appeared on the 17th and final season of the
show, and by the end, he'd lost 160 of those pounds, weighing in at 188.
"It wasn't about the money.
It was all about making a transformation that I wanted and be that father that I wanted."
Six months after the finale aired, Hernandez told the Chicago Tribune that he'd put back
on about 40 pounds, but had also just run his first half-marathon.
The weight didn't worry him, he said, because he had been eating more carbs and building
muscle.
And while many have faulted the show for the seemingly inevitable weight gain that often
follows, Hernandez claims he's holding himself accountable, instead.
Although he says that maintaining his weight has been the most difficult thing he's had
to overcome, as of 2019, according to him, he's determined to keep on keepin' on.
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