14 DAY TRIAL // Jillian Michaels, one of the trainers on NBC’s hit series The Biggest Loser, has had it with the show and she’s planning her exit as we speak. The network is not commenting on this yet, but insiders familiar with the situation say that Michaels has already made up her mind.
It all boils down to how the Rachel Frederickson situation was handled at the end of last season and the way Michaels is always painted as the bad guy on the show, a source reveals for People magazine.
This coming from any other glossy, it could have probably been chalked up to being just a rumor, but People is believed to have better sources than, say, Star or OK! magazine. And these sources are saying that Jillian is definitely out of the show.
For those not up to speed with the weight loss competition, producers and NBC came under serious fire at the end of last season, when the winner, Frederickson, who lost almost 60 percent of her starting weight, walked on stage for the big reveal, looking particularly frail and unhealthy.
Michaels too was shocked and later voiced her displeasure at the sight, even implying that Frederickson had not been monitored properly once she left the Ranch, which is the show’s responsibility.
It is this concern that producers are sacrificing contestants’ health for ratings that’s convinced her she would be better off someplace else. “She is deeply concerned about the direction the show has been taking. She is turned off by the mean-spirited story lines and poor care of the contestants,” says a source.
She’s not the only one to think so: after the season finale, many upset viewers took to social media and celebrity blogs to demand that producers implement a new set of rules, one that said clearly that contestants should not go below a certain weight while on the show, thus preventing them from trading one unhealthy lifestyle for another, overeating for an eating disorder.
“Michaels wants to distance herself from the Biggest Loser brand. Especially considering what happened with Rachel, her feeling is that there isn't proper attention paid to the contestants' health or wellness,” the source explains.
Another thing that’s been bothering Michaels is the way she’s being treated as a character on the show, being made into the bad guy whenever producers see fit.
“The show uses her as the bad guy, and anyone who knows Jillian knows she's not the bad guy at all. She's a loving mother of two kids. She's not the negative person they portray her as. She wants to be in a place where she has more respect,” says another inside source.
Michaels has left Biggest Loser before but was called back in 2013 to help with the ratings. According to the above report, she’s regretting the decision.