The Biggest Loser (American TV series)

The Biggest Loser is an American competition reality show that initially ran on NBC for 17 seasons from 2004 to 2016, returning in 2020for an 18th and final seasonon USA Network. The show features obese and overweight contestants competing to win a cash prize by losing the highest percentage of weight relative to their initial weight.

Premise

Each season of The Biggest Loser begins with a weigh-in to determine the contestants' starting weights, which serve as the baseline for determining the overall winner at the end of the 30-week competition.
Contestants are grouped into teams of three, with each team assigned its own t-shirt color. Contestants work with trainers, who are responsible for designing comprehensive workout and nutrition plans and teaching them to the contestants, who are individually responsible for implementing the principles taught. Depending on the season, a team may work with a specific trainer, or all trainers may work with all contestants.
During an episode, various challenges and temptations are featured. Winning a challenge affords special advantages, such as a weight advantage for the next weigh-in or full immunity from being voted off the show.
Each week culminates in a weigh-in to determine which team has lost the most weight for that week, using contestants’ percentages of total weight lost. The team with the lowest percentage lost during that week will have one member voted off, unless the team consists of only one remaining member, in which case there is no vote. The vote is usually cast by the other teams, though some episodes feature one team making the decision alone. Some episodes feature a second, "red line"; if a contestant falls below the red line, the contestant is automatically eliminated with no vote. Other episodes allow the contestants to all receive immunity for the week if they successfully meet a goal at the weigh-in.
When the number of contestants has shrunk to a predetermined, smaller number, the teams are dissolved and the contestants compete against each other individually.
The season finale reunites the final contestants remaining on the show with those eliminated. The eliminated contestants compete for a smaller prize while those remaining on the show compete for a larger prize and the title of "The Biggest Loser".

Episode format

Episodes are typically two hours long. Some episodes have been aired in a shortened one-hour format to accommodate adjacent network programming such as The Voice and the State of the Union address. Each episode features some, but not all, of the following activities :

Temptation:

Contestants prepare for the first day of the week only to find a situation that involves temptation. The temptation often requires contestants to gamble by eating or drinking delicious but high-calorie foods, thus risking their total weight loss for the week, in exchange for what may seem to be a beneficial trade-off. The benefits may or may not be known to the contestants in advance. Examples include eating sweet foods for the chance to call their loved ones, eating a big slice of cake to win an unknown prize or giving up time with a trainer for a chance to win money. Contestants are given a set period of time before the offer passes.

Reward Challenge:

Contestants compete to win a prize, first as teams and then as individuals after the teams are dissolved. After the challenge, viewers are shown the winning team enjoying their reward while the losing team accepts their loss. Prizes range from immunity- which is exemption from elimination—to exercise equipment, phone calls home or weight prizes, which allow winners of a challenge to have a greater weight loss at the Weigh-In, or losers of a challenge to have a lower weight loss at the Weigh-In. If there is an unequal number of players on each team, then the team with more players must pick an individual or individuals who will sit out until there is an equal number of players on each team. Occasionally, players have to be cleared by the show's doctors in order to participate in physical challenges.

Initial Workout:

Contestants work out with the trainers. During this segment, the trainers will often speak with contestants, especially those who are doing poorly. Underlying issues are often revealed at this time, such as a loss of a family member or a physical illness; often, the triggering events that led to their weight gain in the first place.

Last Chance Workout:

Last chance workouts are often shown as grueling, final preparations for the weigh-in. This is a real test of strength, and trainers push contestants to their limits.

Last Chance Challenge:

Introduced in season seventeen, the last chance challenge is a variant between a reward challenge and a last chance workout. As with the last chance workout, the last chance challenge will usually take place inside the gym. The winning team will win a prize that benefits the team just before the upcoming weigh-in.

Weigh-In:

Although the show depicts the weigh-in in an evening setting, the actual weight measurement occurs off-camera in a morning session, and the contestants are not told the results at that time. All contestants are weighed to determine the amount they have lost relative to their total body weight. During team-based competition, the team that loses the highest percentage wins, and the losing team must send one person home. When the teams are dissolved and the show becomes an individual competition, the two contestants who lose the lowest percentage of weight are below the yellow line and eligible for elimination. A similar setup to individual-based weigh-ins happens when the two initial teams are broken up into four teams of two or three, as happened in the second and fourth seasons. In season ten, the rules changed. The contestants are now expected to weigh in before challenges. The yellow line now increases up to half of the slots, depending on how many contestants there are at the ranch. Contestants below the yellow line face an elimination challenge before the vote. In addition, the Biggest Loser of the week is allowed to save a person below the yellow line from elimination. Some episodes have featured both a yellow line and a red line; a contestant who falls below the red line is eliminated outright from the competition without a vote of the other contestants.

Elimination Challenge:

Introduced in season nine, the elimination challenge was for the two people below the yellow line. In the only elimination challenge of that season, the longest one standing stayed while the other went home. In season ten, the elimination challenge was reintroduced. Those below the yellow line participate in a challenge to escape from the vote. The two least successful contestants face the vote.

The Vote:

The final segment of the show takes place in a dining room that has refrigerators labeled with each contestant's name and filled with that contestant's favorite tempting foods. Prior to the vote, contestants facing elimination plead their case as to why they should remain on the Ranch. The other contestants are not required to honor any requests to be sent home, though generally such requests are honored. The contestants facing elimination arrive at the dining room first; the other contestants each carry a covered plate containing the name of the person they wish to vote out. In the event of a tie, the contestant or team who lost the least percentage of weight is eliminated, except if both of the contestants or teams lost the least percentage of weight. As people are voted out, the light for their name is extinguished. After the vote, the eliminated contestant is shown at home and discusses the progress they made in their weight loss.

Weight loss regimen: risks and criticism

According to LiveScience.com, "physicians and nutritionists worry the show's focus on competitive weight loss is, at best, counterproductive and, at worst, dangerous". Contestants on the show lose upwards of 10 pounds per week, whereas the established medical guidelines for safe weight loss are between 1 and 2 pounds per week.
Other health writers take it even further, suggesting that everything from the show's dietary guidelines to workout routines are completely flawed.
Nutritionist Dr. Barry Sears sums up the wellness paradox: "First, eating less can cause stress to the system causing more hunger. Second, the more people exercise, the hungrier they become." Dr. Sears continues by claiming that "even with the most intense training, people are unlikely to add more than five pounds of muscle in 12 weeks of weight training. The reason viewers see their muscles emerging as the show goes on is because as the layer of fat surrounding the muscles is lost, muscles become more visible. Those muscles were always there but covered by a mass of fat tissue.
At the end of every telecast, the following disclaimer is shown:
Despite this claim of supervision, however, all contestants are required to sign a waiver that states: "no warranty, representation or guarantee has been made as to the qualifications or credentials of the medical professionals who examine me or perform any procedures on me in connection with my participation in the series, or their ability to diagnose medical conditions that may affect my fitness to participate in the series".
The weight-loss regimen used in the show—severe caloric restriction combined with up to six hours a day of strenuous exercise—involves risks including a weakening of the heart muscle, irregular heartbeat and dangerous reductions in potassium and electrolytes. Contestants, regardless of their weight, are required to certify that they believe they are "in excellent physical, emotional, psychological and mental health".
The Biggest Loser: Second Chances included a one-mile foot race in its first week, an event that led to the hospitalization of two of its contestants; Rob Huizenga, the show's medical consultant, when asked about the foot race said that "If we had it to do over, we wouldn't it" and noted that in response, the show's producers have "changed a lot of the way do things".
One attempt to create a healthier environment after Season 8's dangerous foot race was to include a pool for low-impact cardio. This helped contestants to lose weight more healthily and safely than some previous exercise routines in earlier seasons.
Because the show involves elimination, some contestants are encouraged to take risks that endanger their health to remain in the competition. Ryan C. Benson, the winner of the program's first season, publicly admitted that "he dropped some of the weight by fasting and dehydrating himself to the point that he was urinating blood". Since the show, Benson has regained all of his weight but 10–12 lbs. In 2009, Kai Hibbard told The [New York Times] that "she and other contestants would drink as little water as possible in the 24 hours before a weigh-in" and would "work out in as much clothing as possible" when the cameras were off. She further stated that two weeks after the show ended, she had regained about 31 pounds, mostly from staying hydrated. In a June 2010 interview, Hibbard said, "I do still struggle . I do. My husband says I'm still afraid of food... I'm still pretty messed up from the show."
According to a report by The New York Post, California authorities inquired the show due to allegations of doping contestants. The show dismissed these allegations as false and without merit. The show is under internal investigation as of July 2018.
Further allegations were detailed in a 2025 Netflix documentary series, Fit for TV: [The Reality of The Biggest Loser].

Longitudinal study

In 2016, the results of a long-term study by the US National Institute of Health were released that documented the weight gain and loss of contestants in Season 8, which aired in 2009. The study found that most of the 16 contestants regained their weight, and in some case gained more than before they entered the contest. Their metabolisms had slowed to the point where they were burning hundreds of calories a day less than other people of their new, reduced size. The New York Times reported: "What shocked the researchers was what happened next: As the years went by and the numbers on the scale climbed, the contestants' metabolisms did not recover... It was as if their bodies were intensifying their effort to pull the contestants back to their original weight." The article quoted Dr. Michael Rosenbaum, who said, "The difficulty in keeping weight off reflects biology, not a pathological lack of willpower."
After the study results were revealed, former contestants demanded that NBC cancel the show.

Location

Seasons two and three of The Biggest Loser were filmed at the Hummingbird Nest Ranch. The ranch is an equestrian estate in Simi Valley, California, northwest of Los Angeles. Recent seasons have been filmed at King Gillette Ranch on Mulholland Highway near Malibu Creek State Park.

Series overview

Trainers

Winners

Grand Prize

;BMI

At-Home Prize

Given to the person losing the most percentage of body weight under the eliminated contestants.

Season	Contestant	Age	Height	Start BMI	Start weight	Finale BMI	Finale weight	Lbs lost	Percent
1	Dave Fioravanti	39
2	Pete Thomas	36
3	Brian Starkey	33
4	Jim Germanakos	40
5	Bernie Salazar	27
6	Heba Salama	30
7	Jerry Hayes	63
8	Rebecca Meyer	25
9	Koli Palu	29
10	Mark Pinkhasovich	31
11	Deni Hill	59
12	Jennifer Rumple	39
13	Mike Messina	41
14	Gina McDonald	47
15	Tumi Oguntala	41
16	Jordan Alicandro	32
17	Luis Hernandez	36
18	Megan Hoffman	35

;BMI

Television ratings

Records

The following table contains records for the American version of The Biggest Loser. Only records that were officially announced on the show are included.

^ES notes an extended season
^EW notes an extended week

Category	Record holders	Results
Most Weight Loss in a Season ^ES	Michael Ventrella	264 lbs/119.8 kg
Most Weight Loss in a Season ^ES	Ashley Johnston	183 lbs/83.0 kg
Heaviest starting weight	Michael Ventrella	526 lbs/238.6 kg
Heaviest starting weight	Shay Sorrells	476 lbs/215.9 kg
Heaviest starting weight	John & James Crutchfield	969 lbs/439.5 kg
Biggest Percentage Weight Loss in a Season ^ES	Danny Cahill	55.58%
Biggest Percentage Weight Loss in a Season ^ES	Rachel Frederickson	59.62%
Biggest Percentage Weight Loss in a Season ^ES	Koli Palu	53.35%
Biggest Percentage Weight Loss in a Season ^ES	Tumi Oguntala	54.86%
Most Weight Lost in a week	Mark Pinhasovich & Moses Kinikini	41 lbs/18.6 kg
Most Weight Lost in a week	Patti Anderson & Sonya Jones	23 lbs/10.4 kg
Most Weight Lost in a week	Neil Tejwani	33 lbs/15.0 kg
Most Weight Lost in a week ^EW	Holley Mangold	19 lbs/8.7 kg
Fastest to Lose 100 Pounds	Moses Kinikini & John Rhode	6 weeks
Fastest to Lose 100 Pounds ^EW	Shay Sorrells	9 weeks
Youngest Contestant	Mike Morelli	18
Youngest Contestant	Blake Benge	18
Oldest Contestant	Johnny Forger	66
Oldest Contestant	Estella Hayes & Bonnie Griffin & Nancy Rajala	63
Most Weight Lost on Campus ^ES	Michael Ventrella	204 lbs
Most Weight Lost on Campus ^ES	Ashley Johnston	143 lbs
Highest percentage of weight loss on Campus ^ES	Daris George	43.64%
Highest percentage of weight loss on Campus ^ES	Tara Costa	45.23%
Longest Time Gone Without Falling Below the Yellow Line ^ES	Tara Costa	18 weeks
Most Time Losing Double Digits in a row in the Weigh-Ins	Danny Cahill and Michael Ventrella	7 weeks
Longest Running Couple ^ES	Mike Morelli and Ron Morelli	18 weeks
Longest Running Couple ^ES	Olivia Ward and Hannah Curlee	20 weeks
Longest Running Couple ^ES	Conda Britt and Jeremy Britt	15 weeks
Longest Time Gone Without Facing Elimination	Tara Costa	18 weeks
Most Challenges Won	Tara Costa	11