The TV Chick

The Biggest Loser has its 10th season premiere tomorrow night, and as usual, it totally delivers. The theme of this season is “Paying It Forward,” so the trainers will not only be helping the contestants get in shape, but they will bring it home to their communities in some way as well. The premiere features cities across the country where people show up for a work out day. We then meet three potential contestants — many of which have gone through a very hard time in their lives. However, it’s not Biggest Loser without a challenge. Three contestants in each city have to compete for two spots to go to the ranch, and then they become a team.

Continue reading “ADVANCE REVIEW: The Biggest Loser Season 10 Premiere: Meet The Contestants & Video Preview” »

Now that The Biggest Loser has ended for the season, I am so excited that there’s a show to fill its void. Losing It With Jillian stars my favorite trainer going into people’s homes and getting them back on track health-wise. The series premiere focuses on the Mastropietro family, each one of them struggling with obesity in their own way. The daughter had gastric bypass surgery and looks just fine, but she still had the mentality that she was a fat girl. While the show is marketed as a softer side of Jillian, those who love her screaming ways won’t be disappointed either. She really delves deep into the issues causing these weight problems. She is forced to wear many hats: trainer, friend, and even therapist. I was half expecting her to bring her mom into the show (maybe later on in the season?) because she’s a psychologist and has been on The Biggest Loser before. In any case, Jillian still screams a lot (and gets other family members to scream too) and really becomes a part of the family in a way. She moves into their house and takes over their lives for a week, but her impact will be there forever.

Since the advanced copy I saw didn’t have the follow up visit, I am anxious to see what the Mastropietro’s look like now. What I liked a lot about this show, is that at the end, Jillian gave them a realistic weight loss goal. Unlike The Biggest Loser where the contestants are exercising all day, on Losing It, they have to fit it into their daily schedules. There isn’t any game play here or any immunity challenges. It genuinely is all about becoming healthy. For those that love challenges and Jillian’s partner in crime Bob Harper, this show may not be for you. However, I really enjoyed it. I think it’s truly a new take on weight loss and I can’t wait to see the other families. I know that later on in the season there will be some familiar faces from The Biggest Loser: Curtis Stone, and Dr. H (he won’t be on camera though), which will be fun to see. Jillian is an amazing trainer and this show is her chance to train people and change their lives without the stressful Biggest Loser ranch.

Check out a video preview for the show:

And be sure to tune in tonight at 10 pm to NBC for the series premiere of “Losing It With Jillian.”

Now that The Biggest Loser season is over, I am going to miss my favorite ass-kicking trainers on TV. Lucky for me (and us!), Jillian Michaels will be back on a new show premiering next week on NBC. “Losing It With Jillian” centers around Jillian spending a week with a family getting their diet and their lives back on track. Game playing and immunity challenges are left for her other show, as she delves deep into what got the families down an unhealthy role to begin with. I am very excited for this show, and I was thrilled to chat with Jillian on a media call. She talks about the biggest surprises filming the show, her most memorable moment, and her methods to help people lose weight. You also might be surprised to see a softer side of Jillian on this show, and I can’t wait!

A lot of this has validity because you went through this yourself and you lost weight and so forth. Could you run us through that just a little bit? How old were you when you started to put on weight and when you took it off again?
Okay. You know, I went sort of up and down from being a toddler to being a pre-teen. I got my heaviest after my parent’s divorce when I was about 12, 13 years old. I was about 175 and 5′ tall, so roughly two to three inches shorter than I am now and about 60 pounds heavier than I am now. You know, this is something that we have a genetic predisposition. Some of us are predisposed to gaining weight when, you know, we don’t eat properly and what have you while others of us can get away with murder, which I’m very bitter about even still to this day. But nevertheless, it was also systemic within my family. You know, my father was overweight and I learned the behaviors of bonding over food and late night eating and being rewarded with food and food is love and all of that stuff, you know, as a product of nurture as well. So it’s – becomes kind of a combination. Then after my parent’s divorce, my mom, not really making this about my weight but more about me being kind of angry and having problems in school and she was looking for an outlet for me because I didn’t have any friends. I was like the loser kid. And she got me into martial arts and that’s really what turned things around for me over time – mind you, did not happen right away. It took at least a year for me to kind of take it seriously and appreciate what it was about and – but that really is where I learned to appreciate fitness as a means to transform your whole life, not just your body.

 I understand you did some filming in the Boston area, and I was wondering if you could tell me a bit about the families you worked with up here….and maybe some of the challenges you had up here with them.
Absolutely. Absolutely. Okay. The first family we worked with, they’re they Mastropietro family. Jimbo and Agnes Mastropietro and then they have a 20 year old son and I think Michelle their daughter is like 23. And each family has an instigating event that becomes sort of their unwinding. And what I mean is in this show, you will see how physical health and emotional health are really symptoms of deeper problems. You know, we deal with the why, which we do on Biggest Loser as well, but it’s kind of, you know, you don’t see as much of it. And I tend to think of this show as the behind the scenes of Biggest Loser, all the stuff that America isn’t getting to see. You know, why they got unhealthy and all the tools we implement for them to use at home and so forth. So this family lost a child. And granted this was 22 years ago but they lost a child. They were children themselves practically when it happened. They were in their 20s. And it’s become a kind of don’t ask-don’t tell policy in the family of not pushing each other to confront issues, demons. They enable each other with food. Food has become love. Food has become this thing to kind of comfort the pain because no one’s talking. And when we get this family to sort of communicate with one another and we create space for conversation and dialogue and healing, you’ll see that all of the various aspects from health to the interpersonal dynamics of their relationships fall into play. So, that’s our first family. And then the second family is a single mom – well, she’s – I’m sorry. She’s actually a widow named (Deb Jones) and she has a 10 year old and a 12 year old, a boy and a girl. Her husband passed away 5 years prior and they are sort of just coming out of the aftermath of that and getting ready to get back into living. Their whole entire lives sort of went on hold. And now, you know, obviously after going through something that traumatic, there comes a time where you finally start to heal and you’re ready to move forward and that’s kind of what that is oddly both of these families have deaths in them. The other – there’s none of that in the other families but both of these families had those two particular issues. And it becomes about her taking charge of her family and learning to manage time as a now, you know, solo parent and catalyzing her children with positive reinforcement and getting them all on the same page to move forward towards health and her kind of taking control because she didn’t feel like, you know, I think that there was a certain amount of like she kind of gave up. She flat out gave up on life. And you’re going to see her reclaim her life and her health and her kids and her relationships in the process. 

I’m sure you had expectations going in this show, but what was the biggest surprise for you that you, you know, didn’t see coming?
Wow. Truthfully we, you know, we had thought that it would be like okay I move in with families across the country and we teach them how to eat and we teach them how to work out and yay everybody’s happier and healthier. But I found that moving in with these families, they already knew the information. And we underestimate how intelligent we are as a society. And all these families, they were like ashamed to show me what was in the fridge, ashamed to make the foods they normally eat. And that’s when we realized that the show wasn’t about calories and crunches, that it was more about what the breakdown is and how come people aren’t living their dreams and pursuing their destinies and living their best lives. And, you know, after doing the pilot, the show changed and it became kind of a life makeover. And that was what was so surprising to me is, you know, going in thinking okay we’re going to clean out the cabinets and then we’re going to go to the office and clean out the work kitchen and it’s not about that at all – not at all. I mean it’s in there and you see all of it because that is an integral part of the show so of course there’s the workouts and there’s the healthy cooking and all that stuff but it’s – becomes much more about the why, not the what of health and wellness. Does that make any sense? And you know, since you’re living with the family, is it – do your emotions get wrapped up in it more because you’re actually getting to know them really well on a very intimate level. Oh my God. I don’t think that I have cried so much in my entire life. I mean every week I am hysterical crying. It is just – it’s horrible. And it definitely – it’s very strange. Like my show runner who travels with me, her name’s Stef Wagstaff, and she’s like Jill, you’re becoming – I become sort of like the families when I move in. I take on their accents, their – the way that they walk, kind of the things that they say. And she’s like you are so strange the way you kind of meld into the family and like a sponge. You sort of take on their dynamic and their personalities and I become very empathic with the families. And I think it’s – I had to really process that. I think part of it’s so that I can understand them and kind of get in their heads and try to help them implement solutions that will work for them as, you know, a unique family entity and unique – uniquely as individuals. But it’s definitely a roller coaster ride and it brings up so many different things for me of being a latch key kid, going through the divorce, losing loved ones, and it’s just – it just – it wrecks you. It just wrecks you but in the most beautiful way because you’re also a huge part of their healing process. And of that aha moment and those transformations, and I wouldn’t have it any other way but honestly I think I’ve gone through more Kleenex, a whole forest worth. So it’s pretty intense.

Could you at least share one or two of the best ways that parents can get their children interested in fitness and restructuring how they eat …because as we all know, kids are so consumed with fast food like most of us are.
Of course. Of course. Okay. I have a great episode that I just did with a 7 and a 9 year old in Detroit. And one of the things we did is first thing is we made the cooking fun. So for example, we played little games of okay, pick colors and then go and buy two fruits and two vegetables in your favorite color. So if it was purple or if it was orange, they had to find two orange fruits and two orange vegetables. And it kind of makes it fun for them. It makes it a game. And then with the kids I also incorporated cooking with them so that they felt involved and invested in the foods. Like they would pick a recipe and we would make it together and I would explain to them the healthy ingredients and the differences what they do in their bodies. And honestly, tell kids the truth. So – they can handle it. Tell them the truth. I took – with the 7 year old, she was really upset because I was throwing away all these white bleached processed breads that they had in the house. And I sat her down and I took out a piece of my bread and a piece of her bread. And I said, “You know, what do you see in my bread?” And she was like, “I see all kinds of stuff in there, and nuts and seeds.” And I explained to her what those things do for her body and how they’re going to help her grow strong and healthy and live a really long time. And then I asked her what she saw in her bread and she said, “Nothing.” And I said, “Exactly. There’s nothing in here that’s good for you or that’s going to make you strong or healthy.” And then I said, “What color is your bread.” And she said, “White.” And I just leveled with her. I was like, “How do you think it gets that color?” And she said, “I don’t know.” And I said, “Have you ever watched mommy do the laundry?” And she said, “Yes.” And I said, “Have you seen her put bleach in the laundry?” And she said, “Yes.” And I said, “That’s what’s making your bread white.” And she was horrified and I was like, “So what do you think? You want to eat it?” And she was like, “No I never want to eat it again,” and we threw it away. Level with them. Tell them the truth. And, you know, don’t scare them like oh bleach is going to cause cancer and kill you, but tell them what’s in there. They’re super smart. They can wrap their heads around that. And then again, get them invested. Start a garden with them. Make it fun. Cut things into fun shapes and sizes and you can sneak it into – like I made brownies with these kids and my brownies had, you know, applesauce, yogurt and olive oil and like unsweetened dark chocolate cocoa powder instead of, you know, white sugar, white flour, tons and tons of butter. So you can also sneak healthy stuff into their favorite foods and you don’t even need to let them know. But make it fun for them, invest them, incorporate them, educate them in the process. And then when it comes to fitness stuff, you have to lead by example. It can’t be about – you can’t be a do what I say not what I do because that will just never happen. You your child’s primary role model. And when they see you putting your health first, they’re going to follow suit. Make it something you can do as a family, you know, with my Boston family we went – the mom and the daughter took dance classes together. We all went canoeing on the Charles River together. Make it something that you guys can do as a family where you’re healthy and active and find a sport that the kids love. You know, we’ve been basically utilizing resources in these communities. So one of our kids loved swimming and we got him on a swim team at the Y. Another one of our girls wanted to be a majorette. You know, she was 14. Another one of our boys wanted to be – wanted to try out for basketball. So find an activity that your kids can love that’s fun and social that they can enjoy, and then set the example yourself because you are their primary role model.

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As The Biggest Loser slowly wraps up the season (next week is makeover week), I have noticed that this group of people (minus Melissa) has really been one of the nicest groups of contestants I have ever seen on the show. Everyone seems to be rooting for each other and while there is always some game play involved, it seems mostly minimal. These contestants seem more like a family than a group of strangers, and while I love someone to root against on any reality show, I have really been enjoying this season of The Biggest Loser. I recently had the chance to chat with O’Neal Hampton, (or “Uncle” as he’s called on the show) and he was one of the most inspirational people I’ve ever had the pleasure of talking to. He talked about his emotional sendoff, his knee problems, and his bond with fellow contestant (and his daughter) Sunshine.

So last night’s episode had a very emotional sendoff for you and I wanted to know just a little bit of what that was like for you.
Well it was – it was quite daunting. I mean, I was on the one hand I always tried to make it crystal clear that if I ever fell below the yellow line with Sunshine that I would definitely, definitely, definitely want to go before she because I don’t know, it’s just – I just always felt it was my place as a father. You know, really I was a father first and a contestant second I guess and because that’s how I was before I went to the show, during and after. So I’ve fallen below the yellow line with her and having to leave it was, you know, it was a – it was a bittersweet thing; the bitterness was the fact I had to leave but the sweet part of it that it was me instead of her.

And I wanted to know what was the most important lesson you learned on the ranch that you took home with you?
I think the most important lesson I learned on the ranch was to always be truthful to yourself – to myself. I think before I came on the ranch I’m looking at myself as, you know, almost 400 pounds and, you know, it was like an unspoken passion about how bad it really was. And I should have been more true to myself and done something about it sooner. But I think for every, you know, for every season, you know, there’s a time and for every time there’s a season. And I think this was both my time and my season for it to happen right then and there.

I was just wondering if you could tell us how you met your wife?
Wow. I met – we met in college. We met at college and she asked me to a Sadie Hawkins Day dance. And believe it or not I wasn’t always as humble as I am now; she made me that humble over 30 years. She asked me to the dance and I told her – I was a big football star on campus and I looked her I said, why should I go to a Sadie Hawkins Day dance with you? I can go out with any girl on this campus. And she left crying. o then the person who I wanted to ask me to the dance was the captain of the cheerleaders. She asked the quarterback. The captain of the cheerleaders didn’t ask me. So I’m sitting up in my room and my wife came knocking on my door and she said I thought you could go out with any girl on campus, how come you’re sitting here by yourself? I said do you want go out for a coffee or a beer? She said a beer but I said coffee. I said well yeah, I will and we’ve been together ever since. Yeah, yeah, I’m so glad she came back to my room. And gave me a second chance. So this is kind of a second time I had a second chance in life. That’s how I met her. Yeah, we met in college and it was a Sadie Hawkins Day dance she asked me to.

Now have your good habits rubbed off on her since you’ve been home?
Yes they have. And she’s been totally supportive of me and Sunshine as well as she’s just been totally supportive of us through the whole process. And her good habits – it didn’t initially when we came home the first time when we got, you know, kicked off the first day, her habits were still the habits, well we were only gone for not even, you know, for a day. So but then as the season went on and she seen us change she changed within too. And I’ll tell you it’s just the – it’s nice to have – to be united under the roof, you know, everyone’s on the same thing going the same direction.

I wanted to know how your knee has been holding up with all the exercise?
Well my knee is very bad, it’s bone on bone and I’m definitely getting it replaced after this whole process is over. I’m just not sure where but I’m definitely getting – well I have to because it’s incredibly, incredibly bad. But like I said before my – I guess my desire – my desire to change far outweighed the pain in my knee. And they just, you know, Dr. H just can’t believe that I make it through with the pain and with my knee condition. Because, you know, when I fell on building that tower – when I fell they did an MRI on my knee and they seen how bad it was and they were just shocked. They said, “O’Neal we don’t know how you’re in this game, we don’t know how you’re exercising daily,” but, you know, but like – that’s nothing to do with my desire to change. And my knee is – it’s – I’ve been used to this pain for 30 years, I had it through football, through when I was a Green Beret, through all the things so it’s – the good and bad of it is is that as the weight came off it hurt less – it hurt less but I started doing more on it so it was kind of a balance there. But the best thing of it all is the recovery time. Like now I can recover, you know, overnight or the next day. Before if I did any of the things I’m doing now weighing almost 400 pounds I’d be out for a month. But now it’s the next day I’m back at it again. So the knee definitely has to get replaced for my, you know, to complete this journey and I’m definitely getting it replaced.

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The Biggest Loser is getting quite intense lately, and almost down to the final 4 who go to the finale. With the competition so fierce, contestants will do just about anything to get ahead. Last week, there was a temptation challenge, and Koli ate around 4,000 calories just so he could be the only vote in the elimination room. When it came down to it, Sunshine and Vicky fell below the yellow line. Sunshine had been there much longer than Vicky had (even though she had spent some time at home as well), and despite what Koli said to Vicky, I think his vote reflected his ties to Sunshine. I was sad to see Vicky go. She was great, and I was so happy she had the chance to return to the ranch. I recently had the chance to participate in a conference call with Vicky, where she talked about Koli’s accusations, what the big differences are between home and the ranch, and what he proudest moment was on the ranch.

Well I’m sorry to be talking to you but it’s still good for me because people are really curious, especially about what the reason that Koli gave you for, for choosing to send you home instead of, I’m sorry my brain is freezing this morning, instead of keeping you. So can you talk a little bit, I mean because, I mean and also when we were watching the show they did show times when it didn’t look like you were working out…really hard in the gym. Was that editing or?
You know what, it is, it is a show and everything that is seen on TV is wrapped in a pretty bow so you can, they can edit it whatever way they’d like. But I know that I worked hard, you know, and we all take breaks and if you would’ve looked at the other people, you know, when we were all working out everybody stops to get water, everybody stops to take a break and so if I did that then I do apologize. But you know, I would say that I worked really hard and I have no regrets, none at all. As far as Koli is concerned, he had to make his decision and like he said before he went in there he said I have to make it for myself. And there’s a lot of other things that I think played into his decision, but I believe that he eliminated me because I was the biggest threat, and he knew how hard I worked, you know. But he had to give, he had to give an explanation of why he was voting me off and so to say that I needed to kick it into another gear like basically saying that I didn’t work hard wasn’t true, but I mean it is a game and so the game was played.

And do you feel that maybe you were at a disadvantage because you started the game at home and you came back to the ranch later?
You know what there’s no excuses. I was given this opportunity and I’m so grateful for it and you know, I was thrown in late in the game, I felt like I was a single coming into a couples game. But I knew that coming in and I knew that there were twists and turns associated with the show and I believe that no matter when I came in I was going to give my, my best, so it didn’t really matter to me when I was in, I was just grateful to have the opportunity.

Out of your whole experience in the Biggest Loser Ranch what would you say was your proudest moment?
I think my proudest moment was when I woke up at the ranch, I mean you know I started my journey at home so I was waking up in my own bed every day. So when I got a chance to wake up at the ranch and to actually be in it and to say that I was doing it you know, I was losing weight. And when I woke up and I was not the 350 pound girl that I used to be, you know, before I started I used to wake up every morning and tell myself, okay today is the day. And when I was able to wake up at the ranch and tell myself, you know what, today is the day that you are actually 90 pounds lighter, you are actually 70 pounds lighter, you know, that, those were the moments that I truly remember and that I truly appreciate.

Well do you think it was harder for you to leave the ranch knowing kind of the experience that you had, because you had such a different road to getting there than pretty much anyone else on the show?
Right. No. You know when it was my time to go I felt like that’s exactly what it was is my time. It was nothing I could do about it and I just knew that from then on I would have to, you know, continue my journey at home. And it wasn’t a – it was a bittersweet moment because – it was bitter because obviously I was leaving and I didn’t get the time or the – yeah, the time that I would have liked on the show. But the time that I had was priceless, so I really appreciated it but I knew that I could do it at home because I had already been there.

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The  competition is getting fierce on The Biggest Loser, as the number of contestants continues to dwindle down. Last week, two contestants returned to the ranch: one by vote, and one by winning a physical challenge. Melissa Morgan was the contestant who won the challenge and returned to the ranch much to the dismay of the other contestants. On the ranch, she was constantly concerned about game play, so much so that there was a big fight between her and the trainers where they accused her of throwing the weigh in. I recently had the chance to chat with Melissa who addressed the game play rumors, talked about returning to the ranch (and then leaving), and her relationship with Lance and what they are doing to stay in shape.

So how was your experience this time on the ranch different from before?
Well, I mean, this time, you know, I went back and the house was just different. I mean the dynamic in the house was completely different. I had been gone for a while. And, you know, there were some new friendships. There were some new alliances. And so it was, you know, coming in – I think this was harder to come into than Day 1, because Day 1 no one knew anyone. So it was a struggle.

And did you think that your competitors would be gunning to get rid of you like they did? And sort of saw you as maybe the villain this season?
You know, I don’t know that they – I don’t know that my competitors saw me as a villain. Until I watched the episode last night, I didn’t really see it that way while I was there. You know, clearly once you saw last night, I was like oh. But the thing that makes me kind of giggle a little bit is wow they really wanted me gone didn’t they? Wow, why?

I don’t know. I guess you were a threat.
I guess. That makes me feel good. I like it.

Now I’m wondering, how did you feel after no one helped you in the water challenge? Were your feelings hurt?
I can’t say that my feelings were hurt. I mean here’s the thing. For me, everything is logical. And there’s no logic in helping (Michael) send (Kim) home. Are you kidding me? She’s one of your biggest threats. And so I don’t take it personally. I just – it wasn’t logical to me. So I was a little bit frustrated. But I didn’t take it personally. I mean everybody’s out there to do what they think is best for them and, you know, I wasn’t it. And so I don’t take that personally, no.

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