Clearly The Biggest Loser has the same script writer as last year as it was the same cliches being mouthed by host Hayley Lewis and the four trainers, Michelle Bridges, Commando, Tiffany and Shannon.

Though to be fair how many ways can you say how sad their lives are, and the trainers are here to transform them. However I think what makes the contestant’s feel so ashamed is the look that the shows cast give them – it is a barely disguised look of disgust mixed with pity.

And the torture did not end there.

When Hayley said you won’t be facing the scales alone you thought maybe they were weighing in as teams. Hell no they were bringing in your friends and family so they can be humiliated in front of them whilst they were weighed in lycra.

The only bright spot for the contestants was the announcement that first prize had been increased to $250,000.

At the beginning of the episode they all had to stand around in the rain whilst all the trainers with their teams ran in. Michelle was training the over 30 women, Tiffany the under 30 women, Commando the over 30 men who all looked overweight, and Shannon had the under 30 men.

And their stories were all different but came back to common thread of low self esteem and self loathing. In fact there were some who admitted they had never had a girlfriend or boyfriend. However what is good is there is going to be some amazing transformations. Michelle is going to be stunning as she is gorgeous now. I thought her and James, the budding musician from Adelaide would make a cute couple. Also Brenda whose love of her life left her because of the struggle to fall pregnant will turn into a swan. For the guys I thought Simon has hottness potential.

However I hopefully when Graham Pilson loses all his fat it might reveal some personality as he was a little monotone, but he did seem like a genuine guy.

Tonight after all the introductions they only had time to weigh the over 3o females.

Lydia who is 34  was 141.9 kgs. I really like her and I get she has “given up” but I do wish she had washed and brushed her hair before weigh in.

Lisa was 42  and weighed in at 104.2 kgs. She is a single mum and wants to lose weight to find someone. She has not had a partner for 10 yesrs. Her mantra is it is time for me.

Margie is 34 but looked older weighed in at 159.1 kgs. She is an openly gay contestant and said she found Michelle Bridges pervalicious, which made me question her taste in women!

Brenda was 40 and weighed in at 120.9 kgs – She lost the love of her life because she struggled to get pregnant. He now has had kids with someone else.

Tomorrow night we see the rest of them hit the scales and we already know Ryan Preuss will weigh in at 240kgs which makes him the heaviest contestant to take part in the show. (Source: Sunday Telegraph)

It is the reality fat busting shows going hammer and tongs in the publicity department with first The Biggest Loser team saying they kicked a contestant of the show for boozing, and now Excess Baggage have returned fire with K-Fed being taken to hospital today with chest pain.

The SMH is reporting that K-Fed was training with AFL team Greater Western Giants, and he complained of chest pain. He was taken to Mt Druitt hospital where he is reported to have not had a heart attack, but he will be kept in for observation.

Mt Druitt hospital staff must be very excited as I doubt they have ever had a celebrity as big as K-Fed wheeled through the doors.

Excess Baggage premieres on Monday 30 January at 7.00pm on Channel Nine, and The Biggest Loser starts tonight at 7.00pm on Network TEN.

The Biggest Loser continues its media campaign to retain viewers even before the TV series has started. Today in the Daily Telegraph it is reported that a Biggest Loser contestant thinks he is in the Big Brother household and brought in booze and was instantly and “humiliatingly” eliminated.

Personally I don’t know what the whole drama is, if he wants to have his calories in booze rather than carrot sticks that is his issue. Also if they want the fatties to get it on, I think alcohol can only facilitate that process.

Apparently all this drama occurs around week six – which is code don’t switch your channels to that other fat busting show Excess Baggage.

Also they are still talking up The Biggest Loser romance. Michelle Bridges says to look for the pair that always walking together. Now let us not assume that it is a hetero relationship as that could be the twist.

The Biggest Loser – Singles starts tonight on Channel Ten at 7.00pm

Hang on don’t get too excited by that head line there is not some kinky group sex stuff going on in The Biggest Loser house, but Shannon Ponton has confirmed that two couples have formed.

The personal trainer on the show told news.com.au that two couples were formed in the house.

Clever PR as it will get the viewer watching to try and figure out who are the ones that hooked up.

The Biggest Loser starts Monday 23 January at 7.00pm.

Channel Nine has announced it will be starting Excess Baggage on Monday 30 January at 7pm so will place the fat busting shows in direct competition. (Source: Sunday Telegraph)

Channel Ten is kicking of The Biggest Loser the week before on the 23 January to try and get an early start on luring the reality TV fan in.

It will be fat and single versus celebrities and real life people wanting real life transformations.

Excess Baggage’s advantage is that it will have real life personalities and exotic Australian locations, however The Biggest Loser have real people who desperately want to change their lives which resonates well with the viewers.

Ironically Ajay Rochester who is one of the celebrities involved in Excess Baggage will be going head to head with a show she used to host.

However a Biggest Loser production source was getting bitchy about her comment on the Excess Baggage ad where she says “she had to starve herself for the show” with them saying she was first in line at catering. Ouch the gloves are now off. (Source: Daily Telegraph)

The Sunday Telegraph also says that two couples may have hooked up on the show already.

Which fat busting show will you be watching? Of course I will be watching both.

It is going to be reality wars as Network Ten have decided to take on Channel Nine in the 7.00pm timeslot with news The Biggest Loser will premier at that time on the Monday 23 January.

Obviously they want to drag the viewer  in early to get involved in the series before Excess Baggage kicks off a few weeks later.

Network Ten would want to ensure the first two weeks episodes are crackers because there is a lot of interest in Excess Baggage – A Celebrity weight loss show with some big personalities on it.

Or ensure there is some romance going on in the now all singles loser households. Thankfully it has not morphed into Big Brother and there are no webcams in the bedrooms.

More on The Biggest Loser contestants later.

The Biggest Loser – Singles to premiere on Monday 23 January at 7.00pm.

The new ratings period is commencing so the pre-publicity is starting to kick off. This week in TV WEEK it is all about The Biggest Loser, and they have scored a coup with getting 2011 contestant, Lara Whalan, to talk about her break up with Leigh Westren.

The article states:

“[Leaving the show] was like coming out of jail – it was crazy,” she says.

With the pair on a high after their impressive weight loss, Lara assumed they would carry on as normal – but it seems Leigh had other plans.

“There was an incident after the finale,” Lara explains. “Leigh fell down some stairs and hit his head open (see photos of it here). So I went to the hospital and was with him until the next morning and then [the next night] he went back out, took his rock-star status with him and came home a single man.”

Upon reflection, Lara adds that she noticed a change in Leigh as soon as the cameras stopped rolling.

“I ended up seeing enough evidence that he was in his own world,” she says. Seeing the man she loved walk away from their relationship was touch.

“I wasn’t losing a boyfriend – I was losing a family,” Lara says of Leigh’s parents who when on the show with them.

And although most women in her position would be filled with anger and bitterness, it wasn’t the case for the NSW Central Coast girl.

“I wasn’t annoyed, but disappointed. You love someone through thick or thin. I loved Leigh when he was 130kg, and I’m sure the  girls who are after him now wouldn’t look at him twice at that weight,” she says.

Lara also revels that Leigh has expressed hopes of reuniting.

“Some days he’ll call me and say, ‘I want you back, I want us together again.’ But, for me, when the door is closed, it’s closed. You can’t go back when you’ve been hurt.”

Lara has moved on both job wise and relationship wise. She now works in a gym which appears to be helping her keep the weight off.

“I’m 72kg now. I’d like to lose a few more kilos, but not more than five, because this is me, this what I’m happy at,” she says.

Lara’s positive attitude has also helped her find love again!

“I met Andy at the gym – he’s amazing,” she gushes. “He used to be 140kg and he’s lost so much weight. It’s nice we can have the same motivation; we’re a good influence on each other.”

The couple plan to move back to the Central Coast together, and with her 26 year-old boyfriend already a father of two, it’s a path that Lara hopes she will walk down soon as well.

“I’m so excited by the thought of future plans,” she says. “If you asked me 12 months ago if I was going to be where I am now, not with Leigh, working in a gym. I’d be like, ‘No way.’”

So what next?

“I could be travelling on the other side of the world or I could be married with kids. I do hope to be married and settled down, because I’ve met a beautiful person,” she smiles.

 The Biggest Loser – Singles will start on Network TEN soon.

The Biggest Loser will kick off the reality TV year for Channel Ten and this year it is all singles or as I am calling it The Biggest Loser – ‘Fatties and Fornication’ season. This year all the contestants are single, so hopefully there will be some romance in the house.

In fact if you know of any romances contact me….

Michelle,24, already is attractive so after she loses some weight she is going to be a stunner. All four trainers will be back this season with Tiffany Hall again joining Michelle Bridges, Shannon Ponton and Commando to make them work up a sweat.

No news yet on an actual premiere date.

The Biggest Loser is over for another season, and there have been buckets of fat lost but how healthy is their weight loss?

In a previous post I outlined my concerns about The Biggest Loser diet products and how it does not promote healthy, sustainable weight loss, but now it has been revealed how some of the contestants bring in the big weight loss numbers each week.

In an article about the Lara and Leigh relationship situation Woman’s Day also write about what can happen to gain weight loss in the house.

They write:

In a desperate bid to survive and elimination from The Biggest Loser, contestants often dehydrate before a big weigh-in, Woman’s Day can reveal.

“They frequently cut down or stop drinking liquids two days before they step on the scales,” an insider explains. “If you do it right you can drop another two kilos and that may mean staying another week.”

With such a massive cash prize on the line, losing weight in a healthy way often becomes secondary. This year one team were known to eat well below the kilojoule intake recommended by their trainer.

“They were practically starving themselves and you rarely saw them go to the gym because they had no energy,” our source says. “When they did train, they were so malnourished they almost fainted.”

Even after the series ended, the extreme measures continued. After bingeing on lollies and chocolate at The Biggest Loser after-party, two contestants were also seen heading to the toilets and then overheard throwing up.

Other teams believed the Reds (Challenors) and the Blacks (Moons) had a secret alliance and helped each other get to the finals this season.

Rumours were also rife that one team had an insider in the house who gave crucial details before a challenge so they could train for it beforehand.

It would be interesting to know the trainers views on this, do they subtly condone these practices so their team members get to stay in the competition?

“The other contestants hated that they had that edge, ” says a rival contender. “Even when producers insisted that they tell them where the information was coming from, they wouldn’t spill.”

The Biggest Loser love story scandal was an interesting but not unpredictable yarn, with A Current Affair running off the Woman’s Day story. Not a surprise as they are in the same media stable.

 The story Leigh apparently having turned into a hottie, is now wanting to explore this with allegations he may have cheated on Lara after he got out of the house.

 The article stated:

What happened? She [Lara] has told friends she believed Leigh may have “spent the night with another woman” since leaving the show, revelling in being “hot” for the first time in his life. Lara has also apparently kicked her DJ boyfriend out of the home they shared with her parents in the northern Sydney suburb of Turramurra.

When contacted by Woman’s Day, Leigh denied cheating or splitting with Lara, and maintains he hasn’t moved out of her house. But his mother, Sharlene Westren, confirmed the couple are now living separately. Leigh and Lara, who are believed to have sold their engagement story for a substantial fee, had previously spruiked their relationship on the back of The Biggest Loser.

The article also goes onto say:

There was an uneasy tension between the couple at the final weigh-in, and also he ignored Lara for extended periods during the finale celebrations.

“Lots of people noticed that he hardly spoke Lara,” one observer says. “He was too busy drinking the night away and having a ball with his mates.”

Also the following night he continued his celebrations, he left her [Lara] at home and visited the Macquarie Hotel in Sydney for a night out with friends to toast his newfound fame.

“Leigh just love it – it’s like he was born to be famous,” says one Biggest Loser insider. “His confidence is at an all-time high. He has been a big flirt since he lost the weight.”

He did not come home that night.

“He flirts with everyone he meets and is basically enjoying being hot for the first time ever,” says a close friend. “This time he may have taken it too far.”

This is not unsurprising what there relationship was based on may have now changed, you would think both Lara and Leigh would want to explore to ensure if they do stay together that they were meant to be