I didn’t even get a chance to see The Biggest Loser finale before comments about winner Rachel Frederickson being “scary skinny” and looking “sickly” started filling up my Twitter feed. To those people, first of all how dare you without a SPOILER ALERT!
Secondly, Biggest Loser fans are very supportive and caring so it was pretty shocking to hear them turn on any of the contestants for doing what they’re supposed to do — lose weight. I knew something was up. Seeing the difference side-by-side is shocking. Rachel lost a RECORD amount of her body weight, over 59 percent. She went from 260lbs to a mere 105. At 5’4″ she is now technically UNDER weight.
Today, bloggers and recap write-ups are asking how the show let her go so far. This isn’t the first time The Biggest Loser has been scrutinized for the drastic measures they implore to deliver those dramatic before and afters. NBC hasn’t responded to the controversy, but Rachel was happy to talk to Us.
“I started as a 20 and now I’m a 0/2. I was a 6 during makeover week. It’s all about maintaining now!” she told said. “I truly came on The Biggest Loser to gain my life and get that second chance to take control and to be that confident girl again,” she said. Watching a video montage of her transformation, she added, “To see it transform throughout the weeks and come back that alive, feeling, in my eyes, through that video, it was just inspiring to see it again and I know that I found that girl.”
With her new outlook — and body — Frederickson “can’t wait to do everything,” she gushed. “So go out and make friends and take people up on offers to go for coffee or to the movies and just really embrace every moment of life and not hide anymore!”
BONUS: Watch Bob Harper and Jillian Michael‘s reactions when they see the new Rachel.
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