The trauma of Noughties fat shaming has returned to our screens with a three-part Netflix docuseries diving deep into the world of hit reality TV series The Biggest Loser.
As we navigate the impact that “Ozempic culture” has had on body image pressures, after a brief respite from these kinds of conversations with a prominent body positivity movement, SkinnyTok has returned to remind us that the toxic pressure to be thin is never far from the surface of society's conversations.
The new docuseries takes a real look at what it was like to be a contestant on The Biggest Loser, and the controversial takeaways are pretty shocking.
Some things will never, ever, be forgotten.
What is Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser about?
The docuseries looks at the making of the weight loss competition show, which ran for 18 seasons from 2004 to 2016. Directed by Skye Borgman, the documentary features interviews with former contestants, as well as trainers, producers and health professionals.
The original series followed a group of people competing to lose weight, advised by celebrity trainers including Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper, for a $250,000 cash prize.
It was incredibly popular, but viewed through a 2025 lens – like many hit TV series from the early Noughties – The Biggest Loser hasn't aged well.
Season eight contestant Tracey Yukich collapsed during a running fitness challenge, later revealing that she had developed rhabdomyolysis, a rare muscle injury that causes the body’s muscles to break down.
“I don't remember a lot,” she says in the documentary. “I remember hearing the helicopter. I just felt like I was floating. And then my grandpa was there. And then I saw darkness. But then I saw light. So I knew, I knew I died that day.”
“My organs were literally shutting down,” she added. “I didn't realise that I had rhabdomyolysis. And rhabdomyolysis is your body's way of saying, ‘I'm going to shut down on you.’ It started with my liver, then it was in my kidneys and then it goes to your heart. And that's where I almost died.”
Critics have spoken out on social media, questioning why the celebrity trainers and the show’s bosses weren’t prioritising contestants’ health over their weight loss.
“Bob and Jillian were openly disregarding the doctor's rules and actively encouraging the contestants to endanger their health,” one posted on X (formerly Twitter). “They should have been sued along with the producers and PTB. Ratings (money) mattered more than these people's health. Disgusting.”
Season one winner Ryan Benson was also interviewed for Fit For TV, and opened up about when blood was found in his urine due to the intensity of his diet and workout routine.
"In the end, it worked out great 'cause I won, but I was doing what most doctors would say were super unhealthy things," he said. "The last 10 days I didn't put any food in my body. I was doing the master cleanse, just drinking lemon juice and maple syrup, cayenne pepper, all these tricks that are super unhealthy just to cut weight. At the final weigh-in, we had to do a urine test and they said, 'Ryan, there's blood in your urine,' which obviously means you're so dehydrated."
Contestant Rachel Derickson’s dangerous weight loss is also explored in the documentary. She started the series at 260 pounds (18.5 stone, 117.9 kg) and ended up winning the show, weighing in at just 105 pounds (7.5 stone, 47.6 kg). Her body was described at the time as “emaciated”, and in the documentary, trainer Bob Harper reflects on the “horror” they felt at her transformation.
"Rachel came out, and she had lost so much weight, it was… shocking," he recalled in the documentary. "Jillian and I were just in horror."
The lack of aftercare for contestants is also explored in the documentary, especially as many claimed that they regained the weight they lost on the show.
When approached about this, The Biggest Loser’s executive producer and creator, David Broome, says the cost of such a programme made it impossible. "We would have loved to have aftercare, but we're a television show without endless pots of money," he said. "NBC wasn't going to give it [financing] to us."
Above all, the documentary speaks to a toxic Noughties culture around body image, and the prioritisation of TV ratings and competition wins over health. And the question is this: has enough changed since then?
The new series is a departure from the US-based seasons – but no less dramatic.
