Shannan Ponton comments on the US doco Fit for TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser.
Former Biggest Loser trainer Shannan Ponton has weighed in on the Netflix documentary Fit for TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser in which US participants claim they were sleep-deprived, malnourished, and bullied by trainers, including Jillian Michaels.
“It was everything that I thought it was going to be,” Ponton said in an interview with KIIS FM’s Robin & Kip with Corey Oates. “It was exactly what I thought.
“[Contestants] were looking for, I guess, a way out [rather than] to take responsibility for where they’re at.
“I was nobody’s puppet, and everything I did was done with the pure heart and of course there are times where you become frustrated,” Ponton said.
“What’s fascinating is that people were saying, ‘Oh, you’re just belittling these people because they’re fat. You’re making a show on them because they’re fat,’ and it’s not true.
“That’s how trainers and coaches are in their primal state,” he added.
Ponton also defended the weight loss methods he used for The Biggest Loser following post-show weight gains by some participants.
“The system and the methods that we provided to the contestants, still to this day, I still believe in,” Ponton said.
“I was never told to do anything. Everything that I did on the show, I did with the best intent and to try and get the best possible results for the contestants.”
The Biggest Loser finished in Australia as The Biggest Loser: Transformed.
Jillian Michaels has threatened to sue Netflix over Fit for TV, accusing it of promoting “literally just lie upon lie” and floating the idea of her own doco explaining her and some producers’ side of the story.
Source: Pedestrian