Former Biggest Loser Australia stars reveal shock truth about show: 'Extremely unhealthy'

It's been seven years since the last episode of The Bigger Loser Australia aired on TV, and a recent Reddit thread has sparked a new wave of complaints about the now-controversial show, with former contestants and former host Ajay Rochester speaking out about their experiences.

On the Aussie nostalgia Reddit thread, people shared their thoughts on the weight-loss program, while former host Ajay has been openly outspoken about the show over the years, saying she was "fat-shamed" while on it.

Ajay, who hosted the show for four seasons, claimed that “98% of [all contestants] had a horrible experience” that left them “damaged emotionally, physiologically, physically” whilst discussing ethical reality TV practises on Yvie Jones' Two Girls, One Pod podcast in April.

“They were treating those contestants like prisoners. They were denying them food,” Ajay said explaining she “fought” production on behalf of the participants.

Cosi Andrew Costello, who famously lost 52kg in just four-and-a-half months on the show in 2008, allegedly told Ajay: “I don't have any good memories. All I remember was being tortured and made to feel ashamed.”

Former Biggest Loser contestants speak out on Reddit thread

On Reddit, one unnamed former contestant claimed that filming the show has permanently “stuffed up their metabolism”, and questioned why producers never helped the cast address their addictions or emotional connections to food – rather than focussing on extreme workouts and dieting.

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"I’m a former contestant. I’d never recommend anyone do it. Extremely unhealthy way to lose weight. The majority of contestants metabolisms are stuffed now due to the method of very low-calorie diet, around 1000 calories a day, and not eating after the final workout prior to the weigh in, which could be a couple of days," they wrote.

"Mentally they didn’t work on peoples addiction or emotional connection to food. They didn’t take into account medical reasons for weight gain or retention. It was all about the ratings. No psychological help at all. Even after you left the show, when viewers have decided to make hate groups about you online and bully you. I literally had someone tell me I deserved to be dead all because I was overweight."

“It was an extremely unhealthy way to lose weight,” they wrote, with a friend of an other participant explaining how their friend developed a “restrictive eating disorder” from filming before later putting all the weight they lost back on.

Meanwhile, a former crew member explained on Reddit how producers would “make cast members have the same mental breakdowns over and over” from different camera angles, with production workers openly mocking contestants behind the scenes too.

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Ajay echoed this, claiming she was also body-shamed and judged by the crew from her first week of hosting.

“In the space of 10 days I was immediately being fat-shamed. I was a size 12, they said they couldn't find clothes that fit me, they had to get me a jacket to cover my arms. I got tricked and had a three year contract I couldn't escape,” Ajay said.

Former host Ajay Rochester reveals how The Bigger Loser 'lied' to viewers

Ajay also said that the show openly lied to viewers, claiming there would often be up to three weeks between the “weekly weigh-ins”, a point Cosi has also highlighted over the years.

“Ever wondered how Biggest Loser contestants lose like 10 or 15 kilos in a week?? Well, a weekly weigh-in is NOT REALLY A WEEK!! When I was on the show the biggest gap from weigh-in to weigh-in for our series was three and a half weeks!! The shortest was 16 days!! Great the show helps people lose weight but it's pretty misleading,” Cosi wrote on Facebook in 2013.

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