Spoiler Alert: Do not read if you haven't yet watched Part 1 of NBC's The Biggest Loser Season 14 Premiere.
We've all been waiting and now it's happened ... Jillian's back! After two seasons away, during which she and her partner welcomed two children into the family, America's favorite trainer has returned to the gym and she's not wasting any time. During the first part of The Biggest Loser's Season 14 premiere, three of Jillian Michael's five teammates collapsed in the gym and one quit for good.
But despite her histrionics and real talk, Jillian wasn't the true star of last night's show. That distinction went to the three obese teenagers: 16-year-old Sanjana "Sunny" Chandrasekar and 13-year-olds Lindsay Bravo and Noah "Biingo" Gray. The three teens opened up about what it was like to face the judgment of peers and to have to sit out from their friends' activities because of their weight problems.
"I always feel like people are looking at me and judging me for my weight, not for the person I am," said Sunny in one particularly emotional moment.
The young contestants will remain on The Biggest Loser campus for only the first week and will then move their weight loss efforts back home. They won't participate in weigh-ins or be eliminated, but they will be a major part of the show, which is trying to spotlight the nation's high rates of childhood obesity (which has tripled in the past 30 years).
"With the kids, we wanted to do exactly the opposite of when we work with the adults," trainer Bob Harper told journalists assembled at the 2013 Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour. "We do no breaking down, just lifting up ... It's about getting kids to move around again and getting kids to be kids."
The season premiere of The Biggest Loser is taking place over two days, with the second part Monday at 8 p.m. But during the first two-hour show, we've already caught a glimpse into the struggle of obesity, and it isn't just physical.
"This is far more emotional than I could have ever imagined," said Nicole "Nikki" Davis, a 26-year-old make-up artist from California. During a workout with Jillian, Nikki broke down and admitted that she wasn't ready for a change. The show hinted at underlying emotional problems without ever fully addressing them.
"The reality of it is that there are people who are not ready for the process, and I tend to find that when they are not ready, it's far more damaging than positive to push them. So I never really got anywhere with her -- never even got to engage in any in-depth conversation," Michaels told the Examiner.
"We know she has a very dark past, and I personally don't feel qualified to have handled Nikki's situation. And I don't feel The Biggest Loser was the place she needed to undergo the things she needs to get better."
That's an important message for viewers: do not judge the quitters. In many instances, they are bravely taking care of themselves, despite the disappointment they'll face.
But Nikki wasn't the only one who struggled emotionally. TC, the season's first dismissed contestant, collapsed during a five-mile walk on a treadmill. In response, Jillian ordered him out of the gym, embarrassing him. "I felt worthless," he told fellow contestant, Kate.
"We've been feeling worthless all our lives," Kate sympathized.
During an emotional weigh-in, Jillian's four-person team lost another member when TC -- a 30-year-old father of 3 -- was automatically eliminated for losing the lowest percentage of his body weight. But don't get too upset: in a reveal after the show, TC was shown racing around with his children, 41 pounds lighter and still losing.
Did you watch? What do you think of the new season so far? Tell us in the comments!
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Sarah Klein: Biggest Loser Premiere Recap, Season 14, Part 2: The Week 2 Curse
I'm just upset because I know many people that have auditioned for the show, and i know their heartbreak when they weren't chosen. At the same time, TC said he's tried to get on the show for 2 years/5 seasons. If he was that ready for the change, why didn't he start on his own? One foot in front of the other, man.
As regards the topic at hand, I stopped watching this show for the very reasons stated here--I don't find these trainers, Jillian in particular, to be "motivating"; every time she used that word in her commercials, I just laughed.
BTW, get over it.
I am not sure I want to watch a show that encourages "BULLYING"
I feel that Jillian is only here to have her team win the final weight off, but I doubt that her team will last till the end of the show.
You can send her packing.
Passing out and throwing up are signs of extreme physical stress and exhaustion. It may make, what the network thinks, is good TV, but this is an incredibly unhealthy and irresponsible way to show America how to loose weight. And, positive motivation, as demonstrated by Bob on the show, can take you just as far if not farther then negative feedback.
Nikki's choice to leave could be seen as her simply saying, "No, I will no longer allow myself to be treated this way. I will no longer put myself in situations in which I am being bullied. I can do this in a place where I am loved."
The show is doing a great job of giving positive and loving reinforcement to the kids, and it is inspiring to see them shine! If the show used the same training tactics with these kids, it would be considered child abuse. Why don't the same standards apply to adults? So, it is OK to bully as long as you are over a certain age? Lara@thelaratouch.com
Here's a great obesity research review detailing how obesity is not a "character defect" as you seem to believe.
Please read before responding. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22238401
That's the point of why we're still in this ever-worsening obesity epidemic. And it's why we are seeing obese 6 month olds. They have had neither the time or "self-control" to get fat yet they are fat.
Why? Because their bodies, like those of other obese people, are defending a higher body fat set point.
Nikki's drama aside, I am rooting for those brave kids. I wish them the best of luck with their weight loss, and hope they find the strength - emotionally and physically - to become a healthy version of themselves.