Jillian Michaels is punching back at “The Biggest Loser” alumni who made claims against her in the Netflix documentary “Fit for TV,” which explores the “dark side of the NBC reality series.”
Michaels was a fitness trainer on the weight-loss competition series from 2004 to 2011, but she did not participate in the documentary, which featured interviews from her co-star Bob Harper, executive producers, former contestants and the show’s go-to doctor, Robert Huizenga.
She took to social media to dispute a claim made in the docuseries that she and other trainers disobeyed the rules of “The Biggest Loser” in providing caffeine pills to contestants. Michaels posted screenshots of alleged emails dating back to 2009 that she said proved “Dr. Huizenga did approve caffeine pills on many seasons of Biggest Loser [and] Bob Harper not only knew about the caffeine pills, the ‘stackers fat burner’ were actually his suggestion.”
“Caffeine was NEVER banned on The Biggest Loser,” Michaels added. “Wild how some folks still lie like it’s 1985 before texts and email were a thing.”
A representative for Netflix did not respond to a request for comment, nor did Michaels’ rep.
Michaels also took issue with Harper’s claim that she never reached out to him after his 2017 heart attack that left him “dead on the gym floor for nine minutes.” Harper said in the docuseries: “People were always like ‘You and Jillian have been so close’, and I was like, ‘Well, we were really close on television.’ After I had my heart attack, she’s the one person I never heard from. So, I mean, that to me spoke volumes.”
Michaels posted a screenshot of an alleged message to her former co-star, which she said is her “second to last text ever to Bob Harper.” “I really think it’s shitty of you to not even respond to my texts. It’s this kind of thing that always makes me so disappointed [in] our relationship,” the text message reads. Michaels wrote in a caption on Instagram: “Take from it what you will.”
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In a separate post, Michaels addressed another claim in “Fit for TV.”
“In response to the claim in the documentary that I told a contestant at the show’s finale, ‘You’re going to make me a millionaire,’ I want to state unequivocally that this is false,” Michaels wrote. “The full moment was captured on camera, and both the contestant and I were wearing microphones. If such a comment had been made, it would exist on the audio record.”
Michaels said two of the show’s executive producers, Mark Koops and Dave Broome, “provided written statements in text messages to my business partner confirming that this exchange never occurred,” attaching screenshots of text messages between Michaels and said business partner.
The docuseries also featured former “Biggest Loser” contestants who alleged that Michaels encouraged them to limit their calorie intake to below 1,000 per day. Michaels denied this accusation: “With respect to the allegation that I restricted contestants from eating enough calories: I have an example of a direct written correspondence with a contestant, while she was home for the holidays during filming, in which I explicitly instructed her to consume 1,600 calories per day,” she wrote, attaching a screenshot of an alleged email between her and a contestant.
Michaels also posted screenshots of alleged emails to recipients including Harper and Huizenga pertaining to “the ongoing priority of ensuring contestants were adequately nourished and the need to provide a steady supply of fresh food in the BL house to guarantee ready access to calories.”
Lastly, Michaels addressed the appearance of contestant Rachel Frederickson, who was crowned the winner of Season 15 after she lost 155 pounds. Her final weigh-in at 105 pounds was met with backlash from fans who were concerned about the series’ medical protocol.
Michaels claimed that NBC told her if she did not “publicly condone” Frederickson’s appearance, “NBC would pursue legal action against me.” Michaels added, “I resigned from The Biggest Loser shortly thereafter.”
From Variety US