It’s really difficult for a television program in its fifteenth season to offer up any genuine surprises, but that’s exactly what last night’s episode of The Biggest Loser did when Allison Sweeney dropped every single jaw in the room by announcing longtime trainer Jillian Michaels was busted for cheating. Apparently, the workout queen gave each one of the players on her team caffeine supplements without consulting with the doctors, which is a huge no-no on the reality show.
Rest easy, Jillian fans. The reality star isn’t getting booted from her position on the show, but the producers did decide to drop some consequences on her and her team by docking the group a total of four pounds. In addition, the entire last weigh-in was invalidated, the immunity went back to the blue team, eliminated player/ American Idol champ Ruben Studdard was brought back into the game and Jillian was put on the spot in front of everyone, assumedly to offer up an apology. She, of course, didn’t do that at all.
Here’s the full quote of her non-apology…
”I stand by my opinion: a caffeine supplement is significantly healthier than unlimited amounts of coffee. My only regret is that my team are the ones suffering the consequences of my professional opinion.”
I get wanting to stand behind your action, especially when it involves an opinion about what is and is not healthy, but there were far more tactful ways to go about it than this. She really should have worked something in there about how she knows the rules of the game and should have followed them. Then again, I probably shouldn’t be surprised considering I own several workout tapes featuring Jillian, and she is not a particularly pleasant human being in any of them. No doubt that brusk attitude serves her well as a trainer, though.
There are some conspiracy theorists out there who believe Studdard’s return was more inspired by possible ratings than inappropriate behavior from Jillian, but personally, I find those claims a little far-fetched. Jillian has been around the show long enough to have some kind of say, and I highly doubt she would subject herself to ugly articles for the sake of bringing in more eyeballs, especially now that she has children.
Whether Michaels stands by her decision or not, it’s extremely unlike she will ever give her players anything not approved by the doctors again. Here’s to hoping everyone on the show is able to continue pushing just as hard toward their weight loss goals. In the meantime, here’s a look at the actual footage in question…
