Netflix The Biggest Loserfaced plenty of controversy over its 18 seasons on air. Five years after the series ended for good, the darker side of the show that averaged 8 million viewers at its peak is coming to light with a Netflix documentary calledFit for TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser, which began streaming on Aug. 15. The Biggest Loser, which debuted on NBC on Oct. 19, 2004, pitted overweight contestants against each other in a race to lose the most weight relative to their initial body weight over a 30-week period. Now, the new three-episode docuseries covers not only the show's public missteps, including a 2016 bombshell medical study that claimedcontestants permanently had damaged their metabolic ratesand trainerJillian Michaels' polarizing decision to give her contestants caffeine supplements, but new behind-the-scenes details about some of the shockingly unhealthy decisions made by its cast, crew and showrunners duringThe Biggest Loser's 18-season run. NBC did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment. Keep reading to find out what new bombshells were revealed about the series upon the documentary's release. 01 of 09 Netflix Before filming began, contestants were isolated in their hotel rooms, where they were presented with what season 8 contestant Tracey Yukich called "a very thick" contract. "I remember ... reading it and thinking, 'I am not qualified to read this.' " When Yukich requested an attorney, she claimed that producers hinted that her spot on the show could be in jeopardy if she took too long to sign it. "[Producers said] 'Sure, we can get you an attorney. ... But I got 10 other people waiting for your spot ... So sign it and move on.' " Season 8 winner Danny Cahill also recalled being "worried" about the contract's terms, which he says outlined the possibility of death, but ultimately chose to compete. "What do you do? Not sign it and walk away?" he asked. 02 of 09 Netflix Suzanne Mendonca, who appeared on season 2 ofThe Biggest Loser, said that producers discouraged her from getting healthy ahead of the show. After telling casting directors that she had started exercising and was trying to eat a more heart-healthy diet, Mendonca said she was met with a negative response. "They would say, 'No, we don't want you to do that. We want you to gain more weight,' " she recalled. "I wanted to be on the show so badly that I did gain extra weight." Mendonca continued her extreme diet and exercise routine after going home. "I was out there pounding the pavement, running 10 miles, training eight hours a day. It was just all-consuming." According to the former police officer, being on the show ultimately resulted in a loss of her identity. "I didn't know who I was, financially, emotionally, mentally, physically," she said. "I came back with a severe eating disorder. I stopped eating." 03 of 09 Netflix The Biggest Loser's medical advisor, Dr. Robert "H" Huizenga, and several contestants on the show claim that trainersBob Harperand Michaels advised trainees to eat an unsafe amount of calories against Huizenga's medical advice. PEOPLE has reached out to representatives for both Harper and Michaels for comment. "We're eating 800 calories a day," Mendonca recalled. Said Cahill: "My calorie count was lower than I think it should've been." He added, "I was eating 800 calories and burning 6,000 to 8,000 a day. When I lowered the calories, I lost more." TheU.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americansfor 2020 to 2025 recommend that adult females consume between 1,600 and 2,400 calories per day, while males are recommended to consume between 2,000 and 3,000. 04 of 09 Dave Bjerke/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Season 7 contestant Joelle Gwynn said contestants were burning more calories "than maybe even the military did in a day." "The first week, we needed to burn a minimum of 6,000 calories a day. Minimum," Gwynn said. (A 2023U.S. Army articlestated that soldiers burn up to 6,000 calories per day.) To hit those requirements, Cahill said contestants worked out at the gym or outside for "five, six, seven, sometimes even eight hours a day." Season 3 contestant Jen Kerns pointed out that their fitness routines were unsustainable. "I don't think it's realistic for anyone to maintain that level of activity unless they're a professional athlete," she said. 05 of 09 Netflix Though Cahill lost 239 lbs. over a period of six months, three weeks and five days during his time on the show, he has gained almost all of the weight back. "I thought I had it all figured out and then I didn't have it all figured out," he said. As of 2018, Cahill was "just a few pounds shy" of the 430 lbs. he weighed when he first appeared on the show. "The shame that you feel being a failure after being a success, it's a heavy load to bear," he said. Season 1 winnerRyan Benson had a similar experience. "It's no secret that I gained back all the weight," he told PEOPLE in 2024. "Within three days after the show, I had gained 25 to 30 lbs. back just in water weight alone." 06 of 09 Netflix Dr. Huizenga was not comfortable with some of the show's extremes and wasn't always consulted when he felt he should have been. "As the show really got popular, some things were being done that I really ... took issue with," he said in the documentary. "There were times, unfortunately, when challenges were done that I didn't see or hear about." One such challenge was a one-mile run in extreme heat that left Yukich hospitalized with rhabdomyolysis, a rare condition in which damaged muscle tissue releases fiber contents into the bloodstream, after she collapsed on the beach fromheat stroke. "They didn't alert me of the challenge," Dr. Huizenga said. Dr. Huizenga also disagreed with the amount of calories contestants were being told to consume by Harper and Michaels, which went against his own recommendations of at least 1,200 calories for women and 1,500 to 2,000 for men per day. "There is no question that I was giving a very clear-cut recommendation to all the contestants," he said. Despite demands to talk to trainers, Huizenga said his advice was often ignored. "Maybe some things changed, not as much as I would like," he said. "Jillian never really showed any interest in my advice." Michaels, who declined to be interviewed for the documentary, left the show after season 15 due to what she called "fundamental differences [withLoser's producers]." In addition to being portrayed with what she called a "warped negative perception" in the wake of her season 15 admission to giving contestants caffeine pills, Michaels told PEOPLE that the shocking weight loss of season 15 winner Rachel Frederickson caused her to question her role. "I had to take a hard look at my work," she said. "I came to the conclusion that moving forward, I need to be able to have an impact on the outcome of what I do." 07 of 09 Gregg DeGuire/WireImage Though Michaels and Harper had a friendly relationship on-screen ("We were really close on television," Harper said), they aren't close in real life. When Harper had amassive heart attackin February 2017 that left him "dead on the gym floor for nine minutes" and unconscious for two days, Michaels didn't reach out to him directly. Said Harper: "That to me, spoke volumes." Michaels did speak toE! Newsfollowing her costar's health scare, telling the outlet that he had a family history of heart issues. "I was there when he lost his mother to a heart attack—with him the night that she died," she said. She also suggested his diet and workout routine may have played a contributing role. "I do also think that … you're in the middle of a CrossFit workout and you're eating Paleo, it's not going to help." Explained Michaels: "It's not a great combination ... if you have heart disease in your family." 08 of 09 Trae Patton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Despite being a massive ratings hit, contestants were not given support following their return home from the series. Cahill said that he reached out to show producers to suggest an aftercare program that would give former contestants access to psychological help, recovery or continued exercise programs, but didn't receive a positive response. "No one was interested in doing anything like that," he said. Gwynn, who sustained a back injury during a season 7 workout that required physical therapy, also reached out to producers to no avail. "They didn't care," she said. Show creator David Broome said that an aftercare program was not possible due to financial restraints. "We would have loved to have aftercare, but we're a television show ... without endless pots of money." He added: "NBC wasn't going to give it to us." 09 of 09 Trae Patton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Trainers Harper and Michaels were put off by the drastic weight loss that season 15 winner Rachel Frederickson achieved, having dropped 155 lbs. from a weight of 260 to 105 lbs. "Rachel came out, and she had lost so much weight, it was … shocking," Harper said. "Jillian and I were just in horror." Michaels also spoke out about Frederickson's transformation in aThomas DeLauer podcast, "She was unhealthily thin, to say the least," she said. "Personally, I wouldn't have allowed it to happen.' " Frederickson's trainer, Dolvett Quince, spoke out in the wake of backlash, writing in a Facebook message, "Biggest Loseris a journey which has its ups and downs. Please try not to look at one slice of Rachel's journey and come to broad conclusions. Rachel's health is and always has been my main concern and her journey to good health has not yet ended!" The season 15 winner was happy with her results, however, telling PEOPLE at the time, "I just love myself and I am embracing it." Read the original article onPeople
