‘Biggest Loser’ In-Fighting Reveals Sordid Secrets of Weight Loss Show

Former Biggest Loser host and fan of talking about herself in the third person, Ajay Rochester engaged in a bit of online banter with the show’s first “winner” Adro Sarnelli over the weekend after the latter took to the elephant’s graveyard of the Internet (a previous contestants forum on the Biggest Loser Facebook) and described Rochester’s current figure as “massive.” In a response posted on her blog, Rochester hit back at Sarnelli and in doing so has revealed some pretty sordid behind-the-scenes secrets from the set of one of Ten’s most popular shows, including how producers affected the outcome of the first series to avoid a scandal, wouldn’t drug test contestants because they just wanted a “good winner” and how one former contestant drank bottles of tea tree oil in order to lose weight.

Here’s an excerpt from Rochester’s blog, broken down by Ajay’s Allegations:

RIGGING!

It’s funny, I REMEMBER how you got back into Biggest Loser to make it to the final four. Adro, if you remember, you were eliminated by the game and fellow contestants but you threatened the producers with a court case and all sorts of things, which in the first year of a show, a costly court case and scandal was not what they wanted or needed to make the show a success. You forced them into giving you another chance, threatening to make trouble for them and so they rewrote the series and gave you a second chance, reluctantly. You think you won that fair and square? 

MEAN GIRLS STYLE LABEL SWITCHING!

I remember Cosi being eliminated by Sam (who went on to win) who spiked his drinks by changing the labels from low calorie chocolate topping to full fat and Cosi left with dignity and grace and if there was ever an opportunity to complain about getting kicked out that was it. 

TIME DELAY TACTICS TO DISGUISE CONTESTANTS CRIPPLED BY WEIGHT LOSS AND DRUGS!

I remember how you came to the show, a lost, broken, desperate, powerless father unable to save your own life and willing to do anything to fix it, putting your life in the hands of others, a TV show, trusting they would change your life FOR you. I also remember how you presented yourself at your final weigh in (behind closed doors and a few days before filming so contestants had time to recover and look healthy)…..you were starving, pale, had shallow breathing, low blood pressure, cracked lips and you were unable to stand on your own two feet – hardly a great advertisement for healthy weight loss….. all the contestants begged me to ask the producers to have you drug tested. I took that request to the producers and was told they didn’t want to know the truth, they just wanted a good winner and told me to shut up and go away. 

DRINKING TEA TREE OIL BUT NOT KOOL AID!

This was one of the many problems I faced in the job I became known for being difficult in…….because I spoke up when I felt it was wrong or that we were being deceitful. I refused to be the face of their online diet club, I refused to sell their shakes and diet bars, I complained when someone who went on to win was living off 200 calories a week, I complained when I had to participate in a cover up for the contestant (who also went on to win) who drank bottles and bottles of tea tree oil (and whose relative was caught smuggling more in) to lose gross amounts of weight and more…..it made me NO friends, but I refused to drink or even sell the Kool Aid. 

Sarnelli responded to the claims on both his Facebook page in and today’s Telegraph, saying: “She has made some pretty ridiculous allegations here. I made the mistake of using the word ‘massive’, which I probably shouldn’t have. But the point I was making was that it’s a shame Ajay hasn’t been able to keep the weight off … I know as much as anyone how frustrating it can be. I guess it was Ajay’s victim mentality I was referring to. You have to get past that if you really want to make changes. “