<p id=”par-1_38″>What was it like to win <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/the-biggest-loser/?swcfpc=1″><em>The Biggest Loser</em></a><em>? </em>For Jim DiBattista, the Pennsylvania dad who went home with $100,000 after <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/jim-dibattista-lost-144-pounds-and-wins-the-biggest-loser.html/”>losing nearly 150 pounds in season 18</a>, it was “the greatest thing that ever happened to me.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-the-biggest-loser-was-a-reboot-for-season-18-winner”>‘The Biggest Loser’ was a ‘reboot’ for season 18 winner </h2>
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<span class=”related-article-flag”>Related</span>
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‘The Biggest Loser’: Where Is Jillian Michaels Today? </a>
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<p id=”par-2_46″>In 2020, DiBattista <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/the-biggest-loser-winner-jim-dibattista-shares-how-hes-staying-fit-after-the-show.html/”>spoke with Showbiz Cheat Sheet</a> about his experience on the controversial reality show, shortly after he was crowned that season’s winner. At the time he was positive about the experience. He characterized it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to focus solely on weight loss. </p>
<p id=”par-3_113″>“If you have an opportunity like <em>Biggest Loser</em>, this is what <em>Biggest Loser</em> will give you – it gives you the amount of time to focus on nothing but you. It gives you the reboot, to hit the button on the computer where you can just shut your life down for the 10 weeks that you’re on the show .. and just completely reboot your life and set yourself straight and strip down all the bad habits and all the bad things that you did to build yourself up to the person you are now,” he said. “To me, why wouldn’t you take advantage of that? And that was why I did it.”</p>
<p id=”par-4_33″>DiBattista went into the show weighing nearly 400 pounds. He credited his success to being “a game player” and “a very strategic person.” He also trusted the show’s trainers, medical experts, and nutritionists. </p>
<p id=”par-5_61″>“I just was like, you know what? I’m going to do what they tell me, and if it doesn’t work, then I’ll start evaluating it. But until then, I am going to surrender to the process. I’m going to allow myself to be their vessel,” he said. “To me, that is the key to success in <em>Biggest Loser</em> is being coachable.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-not-every-biggest-loser-alum-was-happy-with-their-experience”>Not every ‘Biggest Loser’ alum was happy with their experience</h2>
<p id=”par-6_62″>DiBattista had good things to say about <em>The Biggest Loser </em>after his win. But other past <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/the-biggest-loser-1-contestant-revealed-horrifying-behind-the-scenes-treatment-created-eating-disorders.html/”>participants haven’t been so positive</a>. A new Netflix docuseries, <em>Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser </em>pulls back the curtain on the NBC show, which aired for 17 seasons from 2004 to 2016. (DiBattista’s season was a short-lived reboot that aired on USA Network.) </p>
<p id=”par-7_70″>In the three episode exposé, <em>Biggest Loser </em>alums open up about their complicated relationship with the show, which turned extreme weight loss into a contest. Tracey Yukich recalls being rushed to the hospital after collapsing during an early challenge in season 8. Despite her fragile health, she returned to filming. Today, she’s credits her difficult <em>Biggest Loser</em> experience with giving her the strength to make major changes in her life. </p>
<p id=”par-8_83″>But other contestants were less complimentary. Season 8 winner Danny Cahill gained back all the weight he lost after he was unable to sustain the changes he’d made on the show. Season 7’s Joelle Gwynn recalled have an “out of body” moment when she was on the receiving end of a vicious tirade from trainer Bob Harper. Suzanne Mendonca from season 2 said the extreme weight loss she achieved on <em>The Biggest Loser </em>triggered unhealthy behaviors that followed her after she went home. </p>
<p id=”par-9_13″>“I came back with a severe eating disorder,” she said. “I stopped eating.”</p>
<p id=”par-10_35″>Meanwhile, critics said the competition series perpetuated various stereotypes about people who are overweight and obese and that it promoted an unhealthy (and unsustainable) approach to weight loss. But Harper defended <em>The Biggest Loser</em>’s approach. </p>
<p id=”par-11_43″>“We were living in a time when obesity was killing us,” he said. “That’s why when <em>Loser </em>came around, the messaging, as controversial as it was and is, we were just trying to shed light on a really terrible epidemic that was happening.”</p>
<p id=”par-12_13″><em>Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser </em>is streaming on Netflix. </p>
<p id=”par-13_11″><em>For more news and exclusive interviews, follow </em><a href=”https://www.instagram.com/showbizcheatsheet/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”><em>Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s Instagram</em></a><em>.</em></p>