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The Biggest Loser is an NBC reality television show that began broadcasting on October 19, 2004. It involves twelve contestants who are overweight to varying degrees participating in a contest to lose the most weight. The show is hosted by comedian Caroline Rhea. Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels are personal trainers assigned to help the competitors. This show got its start in the United States on the US network NBC, and the show has since gone international.

Premise

Twelve overweight contestants compete to win $250,000. In Season 2, the number of contestants increased to fourteen. They are all housed in a ranch that offers plenty of space and exercise equipments. Contestants are grouped into 2 teams. Each team is assigned a trainer. Every week, there is a weigh-in to determine which team lost the most weight. The team that lost the least weight must choose who they believe is not making enough effort to lose weight. Each episode is structured similarly to another show, Survivor.

The structure is as follows:
1. Temptation. Contestants prepare for the first day of the week only to find a situation that involves temptation. The temptation usually requires contestants to gamble by eating or drinking delicious but high-calorie foods in exchange for what they may deem as a beneficial trade-off. The benefits may or may not be known to the contestants in advance. Examples include eating sweet foods for a chance to call their loved ones. Another example is eating a big slice of cake to win an unknown prize (which turned out to be an exercise bike). Contestants are given a set amount of time before the offer passes.

2. Reward challenge. Teams compete to win a prize. After the challenge, viewers are shown the winning team savoring their reward while the losing team bitterly accept their loss. During team-based challenges, in the event that one of the teams has an extra member, the winning team can decide who should sit-out during the weigh-in. If the challenges become individual-based, the winner of the challenge is given immunity from being eliminated at the next weigh-in.

3. Weigh-in. All contestants are weighed to determine the pounds they lost. During team-based competition, the team that lost the most weight wins. The losing team must vote who they should eliminate among them. When the competition has turned individual-based, the two contestants who lost the least weight are in danger of elimination. A similar setup to individual based weigh-in happened when the beginning two teams are broken up into four teams of two.

4. The vote. The losing team enter a dining room half-surrounded with refrigerators filled with sweets. Each refrigerator has the name of each contestant lit. During the team-based competition, losing members each carry a covered plate containing the name of the person they wish to vote out. In the event of a tie, the winning team decides who from the losing team be voted out. During the individual-based competition, the fate of the two contestants on the chopping block will be determined by the other players. In the event of a tie, the one contestant who lost the least weight is eliminated. In all scenarios, the refrigerator with the eliminated player's name is shut off.

Season 1

The contestants were divided into two teams: red and blue and each team was given their own personal trainer. Each week, the team who lost the least weight was required to vote out one of their team members. When there were 6 contestants remaining, the competition became individual. The players were now competing for themselves to stay in the game. The two contestants who had lost the least percentage of weight were eligible to be voted off. At the finale, the contestant who lost the most weight and percentage of body fat would win $250,000. As an added bonus, the show gave $100,000 to the contestant who had lost the most weight and percentage of body fat that didn't make it to the finale.

Season 2

The contestants were divided into two teams: Men in red and Women in blue and each team was given their own personal trainer of the opposite sex. Each week, the team who lost the least percentage of total weight was required to vote out one of their team members.

Special Edition

A spin-off of The Biggest Loser, The Biggest Loser: Special Edition features a team of people competing against another team, with each competition airing in two one-hour episodes. They spend 11 days on the ranch working with Bob and Jillian and then return home to continue to lose weight. The announced groups include "family vs. family", "engaged couple vs. engaged couple", and "Marines vs. Navy". Each episode features one of the mini competitions from start to finish.

Season 3

Season 3 of The Biggest Loser will begin airing in fall 2006. The show has announced that Kim Lyons will be joining the show (and likely replacing Jillian Michaels) as the Red Team trainer.

Biggest Loser 3 Fan Weekly Voting Site

Season 4

Season 4 of The Biggest Loser will air in 2007.

UK Version

A UK version of The Biggest Loser aired in 2005. Bob and Jillian were not involved but they had their own trainers with similar styles. Angie Dowds with a hard no-nonsense approach (training the red team) and Mark Bailey with a supportive caring approach (training the blue team). The show was hosted by Vicki Butler-Henderson, a motoring journalist turned television presenter who has hosted shows such as Fifth Gear, as well as racing cars, when she can.

The Biggest Loser UK was shown on Living TV in the UK. Series 2 is currently in production ( May 2006 ).

Australian version

An Australian version of the program started on February 13, 2006, and aired at 7pm weeknights on Network Ten with the finale episode broadcast on April 27. Featuring the same personal trainers of Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels as the US version, the Australian version was hosted by AJ Rochester.

Applications for the program closed on November 11, 2005. Over 6,000 Australians applied to take part.

In February the 12 contestants were revealed: Adro, Artie, Cat, David, Fiona, Harry, Jo, Kristie, Ruth, Shane, Tracey and Wal. The format differed from the original with the show. Airing for a half-hour each weeknight as opposed to 1 hour each week, with the weigh-in conducted on a Friday, and the vote taking place during the Monday episode, which runs for a full hour. The whole season ran for a shorter than usual period of four months.

The Biggest Loser Finale was held on April 27, where Wal won AUD $50,000 as the biggest loser of the evicted contestants. In the final competition, Fiona won AUD $10,000 in fourth place, Kristie won $20,000 in third place, Harry won $30,000 in second place, and Adro won the main prize of $200,000, and title as Australia's Biggest Loser.

One of the hosts of the show, Jilian Bodenmann, has been training for many years as a fitness instructor and is set on helping other people.

It has been announced that there will be a second series of the Biggest Loser with host Julian Bodenmann returning with a teacher from school St Mary's in Cairns but this teacher is unknown to us, with applications currently available on the website.

External links

• The Biggest Loser at IMDb
• NBC: The Biggest Loser
• The Biggest Loser Network Ten Australia's Biggest Loser website
• Jillian Michaels Trainer for The Biggest Loser's Red Team

• 2000s TV shows in the United States
• Australian reality television series
• NBC network shows
• Makeover reality television series
• Television series by NBC Universal Television