NBC's The Biggest Loser brought the struggle of dropping a huge amount of weight to reality
TV in 2004, turning it into a contest and pitting individuals and teams against each
other.
But one day, the show just disappeared from TV.
We're weighing in on just what happened to the series.
"It's Biggest Loser time.
It's Biggest Loser time.
It's daddy's favorite show.
It's daddy's favorite show."
Changing the channel
If it's a big enough hit, a show can sustain disaster and controversy.
Two and a Half Men weathered Charlie Sheen's public meltdown and feud with the show's creator,
while the Roseanne reboot got canceled after Roseanne Barr fired off a racist tweet, only
to re-emerge as a new show called The Conners.
But there is one unforgivable sin in TV land: dismal ratings.
"That's a number that could send me home."
"We'll just have to wait and see if it's enough.
Good luck."
"Thanks."
In its early seasons, The Biggest Loser was a certified hit, peaking with more than 10.4
million viewers in its fall 2009 season.
But by the 17th season of the show in early 2016, fewer than five million people on average
were tuning in, according to Deadline.
It looks like NBC wanted to drop some dead weight.
"That's disheartening."
Radio silence from the network
The real proof that NBC unceremoniously canceled The Biggest Loser is the complete lack of
evidence that they actually canceled it.
Networks announce their schedules well ahead of time, but, curiously, NBC's official casting
page continues to feature no contestant solicitations for what was once its flagship reality show.
"The world is coming to an end."
The show would have to already be in production if NBC had it on its slate of upcoming shows.
But here's the thing: It's not on the list.
That's because nobody has been shooting episodes of The Biggest Loser within the last couple
of years.
Bob Harper's close call
A major player of The Biggest Loser endured a horrifying personal medical crisis.
"Bob Harper is Biggest Loser.
He's been here since day one."
Friendly, encouraging trainer Bob Harper helped dozens of contestants reach their personal
health goals.
But despite being seemingly indestructible, TMZ reported Harper collapsed while working
out in New York City in February 2017.
Fortunately, there was a doctor on the scene, who administered CPR and used a defibrillator
to keep Harper alive.
After waking up two days later, Harper spent more than a week recovering in the hospital.
He later shared that genetics were at play, seeing as how his mother had died from a heart
attack.
"I had what they call a widow-maker…
And the fact that there were doctors in the gym when I had the heart attack, saved my
life."
Harper recovered, but still, it's probably not great publicity for a network when the
trainer in charge of helping contestants reach their peak health suffers a heart attack.
The science behind those losses
NBC may have canceled The Biggest Loser as quietly as possible for a reason.
In a sick twist of irony, the show that claimed to help people get healthy may have actually
hurt its participants.
"You feel kind of helpless, you're like what could I have done."
In a National Institutes of Health study published in 2016, researchers analyzed 16 Biggest Loser
competitors overall, using a variety of methods to measure their "resting metabolic rate"
and body composition, both at the end of their Biggest Loser season, and then six years later.
They found that the average contestant's metabolism had dramatically slowed down, and although
they may have continued to eat healthy and exercise, they had trouble keeping the weight
off.
And some had even gained almost all of it all back.
"I won The Biggest Loser, yknow.
I was the first female to win the Biggest Loser.
Like, I'm Ali Vincent.
Like, I'm supposed to be strong."
As reported by The New York Times, the study was made public just a few months after The
Biggest Loser aired its 2016 season, which turned out to be its last one.
Were contestants given drugs?
The Biggest Loser operated like a televised fitness boot camp, putting contestants through
intense exercise and dietary reprogramming.
The workout footage and healthy eating tips presented the idea to viewers that the best
path to significant weight loss was good, old-fashioned exercise and dieting.
But according to those close to the show, that's not exactly how things went down on
set.
"Winners win, right?
Let's have a winning attitude this week."
Contestants told the New York Post that the show secretly encouraged them to use weight
loss drugs.
And a "source close to production" claimed that trainer Bob Harper and an assistant gave
contestants Adderall and "yellow jackets," a drug which contains ephedra, which is a
weight loss stimulant that was straight-up banned by the FDA back in 2004.
Regarding the accusations, an NBC producer stated:
"We prohibit the use of any illegal substances, in addition to the many other rules and procedures
of the show that are designed to ensure safety."
It's…complicated
"This is a game show.
It's not a healthy model for how you should be losing weight."
NBC attempted to make those shocking drug allegations go away and so did the show's
resident physician, Dr. H, who released a statement via the New York Post saying,
"Contestants are told at the start of the show that there is zero tolerance for any
weight-loss drugs."
"It's very scary for people to open up to a different possibility, a new story, a different
reality."
Dr. H later sued both the New York Post and Joelle Gwynn, a former Biggest Loser contestant
quoted in the Post, for libel, claiming to be defamed by the exposé.
Gwynn's attorney asked a court to drop the case on the grounds that she shouldn't be
sued simply for talking about her experience on the show.
While the Hollywood Reporter noted that NBC internally investigated the drug allegations,
the network may have also made one other major internal move, in regards to The Biggest Loser.
According to Dr. H, via the Daily Mail, in a court-filed document related to the libel
case, the drug scandal did lead to NBC quietly canceling The Biggest Loser for good.