{"id":189915,"date":"2025-08-30T03:50:49","date_gmt":"2025-08-30T03:50:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/30\/biggest-loser-trainer-slams-ex-contestants-for-avoiding-blame\/"},"modified":"2025-08-30T03:50:49","modified_gmt":"2025-08-30T03:50:49","slug":"biggest-loser-trainer-slams-ex-contestants-for-avoiding-blame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/30\/biggest-loser-trainer-slams-ex-contestants-for-avoiding-blame\/","title":{"rendered":"Biggest Loser Trainer Slams Ex Contestants for Avoiding Blame"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Shannan Ponton<\/strong>, a trainer from the Australian version of The Biggest Loser<\/a>,<\/em> has weighed in on the controversial Netflix documentary that explores the dark side of the weight loss show.<\/p>\n

Speaking to KIIS FM\u2019s \u201cRob & Kip with Corey Oates\u201d<\/a> on Wednesday, August 27, the reality TV alum, 52, said after watching Fit for TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser<\/em>,<\/a> he felt that some of the ex-contestants who participated were trying to shirk accountability.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was everything that I thought it was going to be. It was exactly what I thought,\u201d Ponton said. (Ponton trained the blue team on the Australian version of the franchise, similar to Bob Harper<\/strong> on the U.S. version.)<\/p>\n

Ponton explained he thought ex-contestants were \u201clooking for, I guess, a way out [rather than] to take responsibility for where they\u2019re at.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Related: <\/span>The Biggest Loser’s Scandals and Controversies Through the Years<\/span><\/a>
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\n\t\t\tThe Biggest Loser became a cultural phenomenon when it premiered in 2004 \u2014 but the show has been plagued with scandals and controversy as well. When NBC introduced the show, it followed a group of people deemed overweight who would compete in a 30-week competition. The goal was to lose as many pounds as possible [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

However, the fitness guru admitted he agreed with some of the points the show\u2019s former contestants brought up in the documentary.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith that said, I think weight loss in the world has changed a lot in the last 20 years,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I think, you know, there is probably merit in some of the points that the ex-contestants had as far as they probably could have benefited a lot from post-show psychology or post-show help in that area.\u201d<\/p>\n

While The Biggest Loser<\/em> has come under fire due to the potential health risks of rapid weight loss in a competition-based reality show, Ponton insisted that he stood by the weight loss methods used in the series.<\/p>\n

He told the radio show he was \u201cdisappointed, but not surprised\u201d that former contestants<\/a> who appeared in the documentary had regained their weight but insisted that \u201cit\u2019s not a flaw in the system\u201d that that occurred.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe system and the methods that we provided to the contestants, still to this day, I still believe in,\u201d he said, \u201cI was never told to do anything, I was never anybody\u2019s puppet. 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels.<\/span> (Photo by Getty)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Ponton also defended The Biggest Loser<\/em> trainers yelling at the contestants during their workouts, an action which critics believe was designed to humiliate the contestants on TV.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was nobody\u2019s puppet, and everything I did was done with the pure heart and of course there are times where you become frustrated,\u201d Ponton said.<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cSome of the things that came out in the documentary\u2026 I found what\u2019s fascinating where people were saying, \u2018Oh, you\u2019re just belittling these people because they\u2019re fat. You\u2019re making a show on them because they\u2019re fat,\u2019 and it\u2019s not true. That\u2019s how trainers and coaches are in their primal state.\u201d<\/p>\n

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