Andrew 'Cosi' Costello tells his story (see below). His sad opinion is "I would say that about 75 per cent of the contestants from my series in 2008 are back to their starting weight."
And one of his most sensible statements is "But the show doesn't address the reasons why people like me are so obsessed and addicted to eating excess amounts of food; it doesn't get to the root of the problem."
So the verdict: The Biggest Loser is entertainment and a strategic money-making game, nothing more. The weight loss should not be looked upon as something that you could do if you only had the willpower. Thanks, Cosi, we now have it from the horse's mouth.
What is your opinion about The Biggest Loser? Come on - share!
Former Biggest Loser contestant Andrew 'Cosi'
Costello reveals the truth about the weight loss show
· FEBRUARY 07, 2014 1:16PM
Andrew ''Cosi'' Costello and image of
his former self during the 2008 Biggest Loser finale. Source: Supplied
ANDREW
'Cosi' Costello was a contestant on the Biggest Loser in 2008. As controversy
rages over the dramatic weight loss of US contestant Rachel Frederickson, Cosi
reveals his experience on the show.
Frederickson
was crowned the winner of the US version of the show earlier this week after
she lost a record-breaking 60 per cent of her total body weight.
Jaws
dropped when the 24-year-old unveiled her thin, 105-pound (47kg) frame during
the live finale, which aired in the US Tuesday night - a drastic change from
when she first appeared weighing 260 pounds (118kg).
Frederickson's
155-pound (71kg) weight loss landed her $250,000 in prize money and also the
title of the tiniest US Biggest Loser winner in history.
Today,
Cosi writes exclusively for news.com.au about what contestants really have to
go through on the hit Channel 10 show:
"The
day I flew off to be a contestant on the Biggest Loser,
my wife cried at the airport.
I
returned more than four months later to discover that she had fallen pregnant
the night before I left. So when I got out of the Biggest Loser house, I'd lost a heap of weight and
she was carrying a heap more.
Four-and-a-half
months is a long time to go without reading a paper, watching TV, driving a car
or using money. In fact it's very similar to being in prison, except the
inmates are fatter.
When
it was the Christmas break, the crew and producers all took 10 days off.
Everyone left, everything stopped. So while they enjoyed Christmas with their
families, all the contestants sat in the White House with a security guard and
supervisor.
We
were not allowed to leave the house and we only got five minutes each to call
our partners on Christmas Day (we only got to speak to our partners three times
during the whole series) It was a very sad and depressing 10 days, but I signed
up for the TV show so I can't really complain.
You
probably think we spent all day everyday working out in the Biggest Loser house. Wrong. No one ever worked out
for more than two and a half hours a day. You really can't do much more than
that if you're training hard.
Biggest
Loser cops a lot of bad publicity
about what they do to the contestants. People need to remember that we signed
up for a TV show and that's exactly what it is … a TV show.
They
want the drama, the tears, the fights, the tears, the triumphs and the tears.
Producers would push you to cry because that's what makes good TV. They
continually asked questions like "Do you miss your kids?" Needless to
say, I broke down more than once.
The
only thing that really disappoints me about the Biggest
Loser is the length of time between the weigh-ins. Have you
ever wondered how the contestants manage to lose a staggering 12 kilos in a
single week? We don't. In my series a weekly weigh-in was NEVER filmed after
just one week of working out. In fact the longest gap from one weigh-in to the
next was three and a half weeks. That's 25 days between weigh-ins, not seven.
That "week" I lost more than nine kilos. I had to stand on the scales
and was asked to say the line, "wow, it's a great result, I've worked
really hard this week". The producers made sure that we never gave this
secret away, because if we did, it created a nightmare for them in the editing
suite. The shortest gap from weigh-in to weigh-in during our series was 16
days. That's a fact. The thing is, overweight people get inspired by watching
the Biggest Loser. They get off the couch and they hit the
gym. But after a week in the real world, some people might only lose 1kg so
they feel like they've failed and they give up.
That's
where the show is misleading. You need to remember it's a TV show, it's not all
real. In fact, not even the scales we stood on were real.
What
was real was the passion and kindness shown by trainers Michelle Bridges and
Shannan Ponton. These two regularly came in on weekends to take us for extra
sessions and they legitimately cared about each of us. They are very good
people.
The Biggest Loser finale was an interesting event. I
like to tell people it's similar to giving birth … it was long, drawn out and
painful. The filming for the final episode took 12 hours. Before going on
stage, there was a person behind the scenes whose job it was to help gaffer
tape any "flabby" bits of skin. There's a tip for brides to be,
nothing makes your tummy look thinner than tightly wrapped gaffer around the
body. I refused to use the gaffer tape, but most of the other contestants had
their stomachs and arms taped tight.
I
would say that about 75 per cent of the contestants from my series in 2008 are
back to their starting weight. About 25 per cent had had gastric banding or
surgery. I sit in the middle somewhere. I lost 50 kgs, but have put 25 kgs back
on since the show and my lifelong battle with weight continues. Anyone can lose
weight in a controlled environment; I'd say it's almost impossible not to lose
weight on the Biggest Loser.
But
the show doesn't address the reasons why people like me are so obsessed and
addicted to eating excess amounts of food; it doesn't get to the root of the
problem. If any TV producers can work that out let me know, I'd love to go on
your show!
You
can read more about Cosi's weight loss battle, stories on marriage and
fatherhood and his travels around South Australia on his Facebook page.
This article appeared on www.news.com.au
No comments:
Post a Comment