Well, well – It looks like I’m once again talking about NBC’s weight loss show – The Biggest Loser. If you know anything about me, and why I’m called The Angry Trainer, you know that this show is the proverbial thorn in my side. In fact the very first article we posted here at Angry Trainer Fitness was all about my disapproval of the show’s format (see below!)

For years The Biggest Loser has been a big hit for NBC – but now that the show is in its 13th season the ratings are seriously down, from a peak of over 10 million for Season 7 to an average of just 6 million a week this year. So I want to know if any of you out there are still watching the show – and if so, why?

I’ll admit that in the very beginning I was a bit mesmerized by the show and the transformations that took place. Truth be told, the before and after pictures are quite remarkable. Funnily enough, I remember thinking to myself how unlikely a pair Bob and Jillian were and thought for sure they’d go nowhere. Boy was I wrong huh? But even then, in the very beginning, I hated the training style, the premise of winning money for weight loss and I absolutely detested the contestants’ audition tapes where they’re shown stuffing their faces with all sorts of fattening food.

But the Biggest Loser is a TV show first and foremost, a soap opera with a gym setting as a backdrop. What it isn’t is a fitness experience. In fact the entire methodology behind the show flies in the face of every principle that any respectable personal trainer would use. Everything from the workout and exercise selection, to how the trainees are spoken to, to the lack of day to day responsibilities, and the fact that the show plays like a Fantasy Island for the overweight sends all the wrong signals to at home viewers in my view.

The problem as I see it is that the show focuses too much on weight loss and not enough on wanting to be healthy and fit. As a consequence we end up seeing many participants at the finale who just look wasted away and actually quite unhealthy.

Over the years we’ve seen Jillian depart and be replaced by Kim Lyons, then come back and elevate herself and Bob to a whole new level. We’ve seen two new trainers, Brad and Cara go head to head with Bob and Jillian and fail miserably. Last year saw the addition of Dolvett Quince and Anna Kournikova – neither of whom impressed me, in fact Anna was an outright embarrassment (and I suspect was responsible for a good chunk of the show’s ratings slide) Now we have just Dolvett and Bob on the show – but as much as I may have bitched about them, it’s clear that the show’s glory years were the Bob and Jillian era.

So tell me – are you still watching The Biggest Loser – and if so why? What do you think of Dolvett? And if you’ve stopped watching what made you turn off? Comment away…

Related articles:

Why Biggest Isn’t Best

The Angry Trainer And Jillian Agree!

5 Ways To Make The Biggest Loser Better

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