Former star swimmer says she’s back in control, a very confident girl once more

Feb 6, 2014 13:10 GMT  ·  By

Rachel Frederickson, a 24-year-old, former star swimmer turned LA-based voiceover artist, won season 15 of The Biggest Loser after shedding 59.6 percent of her starting weight, going down from 260 pounds (117.9 kg) to 105 pounds (47.6 kg). She is now a size 0.

Rachel was announced as winner of the latest season of the series on the finale the other night and, since then, uproar online has been increasing by the hour.

Even two of the trainers on the show, Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels, were shocked by how much weight she’d lost, but they refuse to be drawn on the side of the large crowd of viewers saying she did it in a very unhealthy way.

Speaking with Us Weekly, presumably in a bid to squash all talk that she must have developed an eating disorder in her attempt to get back to her ideal weight, Rachel herself is only fueling the rumors by revealing that she’s now a size 0.

“I started as a [size] 20 and now I’m a 0/2. I was a 6 during makeover week. It's all about maintaining now!” she says.

Still, Rachel goes out of her way to prove that for her, the dress size is but a number because what matters for her is that she got her confidence back. And it’s all thanks to the help she received during her 7 and a half months on the show.

“I truly came on The Biggest Loser to gain my life and get that second chance to take control and to be that confident girl again. To see it transform throughout the weeks and come back that alive, feeling, in my eyes, through that video, it was just inspiring to see it again and I know that I found that girl,” she says, talking of her feelings while watching video of herself from the start of her journey.

“[I] can't wait to do everything,” she continues. “So go out and make friends and take people up on offers to go for coffee or to the movies and just really embrace every moment of life and not hide anymore!”

While she keeps talking to the media to offer some peace of mind to those saying her dramatic weight loss is most likely unhealthy, the controversy continues online. Viewers are still saying that Biggest Losers producers need to step up and clear the air on anorexia allegations.