CONTENT WARNING: This article discusses disordered eating and suicidal ideation.
The former host of The Biggest Loser Australia, Ajay Rochester, has never been shy about sharing her thoughts on the popular reality series. Now, amidst the controversy reignited by the Netflix documentary Fit For TV: The Reality Of The Biggest Loser, Ajay has taken to the radio to spill even more tea about the Aussie iteration of the series.
new BrightcovePlayer(‘6103636748001’, ‘1656287865355575363’, ‘zf2tqmk2’, ‘brightcove-video-player-dad937ac5c’);
In an interview with KIIS FM’s The Kyle & Jackie O Show, Ajay and former contestant Holly Bennett reflected on their experiences during filming and the negative lasting impact the series had on them.
Ajay, who was a host on the show from 2006 to 2009, alleged that the show created a “toxic workplace”, which not only saw contestants go to extreme lengths to lose weight but also resulted in medical issues which were kept a secret.
“It was always just like, when is someone going to die?” Ajay explained, when asked about the toll the show had on contestants’ bodies.
“There were a bunch of secret surgeries that went on. People were rushed off to surgery, and days before the finale, had surgery because it’s one of those things that, through extreme weight loss, can actually be affected.”
The 56-year-old also alleged that contestants experienced other related symptoms, including “deep vein thrombosis and thrush”.
Despite her many criticisms of the reality show, Ajay doesn’t believe that the creators and trainers ever set out to cause any contestants harm.
“I don’t think they intentionally set out to risk people’s lives, but I think through trying to do it under such extremes in an environment where there weren’t really any rules, it was the wild west,” Ajay explained.
“They pushed people and pushed people.”
Ajay was originally asked to host the show after she filmed a documentary called Larger Than Life, where she documented her own weight loss journey after having her son. It gave her an insight into what the contestants were going through.
“I’ll just never forget my very first day,” Ajay continued.
“I’d come from a period of time where I had lost a lot of weight and documented it, and that’s kind of how I got the job, because they were like, ‘she’s walked the walk’.
“And I was like, ‘It’s five hours, six hours, seven hours in, and they haven’t eaten. These people need to eat’. And [the producers] were like, ‘No, they don’t.’ I’m like, ‘yes, they do’.”
In one of the most shocking claims, Ajay recounted a time when the house that the contestants stayed in had a sewage issue that saw faeces from the house overflow onto the lawn. Despite this, Ajay claimed that the contestants were still made to do challenges on the lawn.
“There was muddy poop. I’m talking about a river of muddy poop across the lawn. And they had contestants doing those crazy challenges where you had to move a ton of bricks from one end to the other to win a Mars Bar to get immunity, so you don’t get kicked out,” the former host explained, before alleging that the contestants got rashes on their legs.
“There were doctors treating them. And then we couldn’t work on the lawn anymore for a while because it was just an infestation of crap.
“There were many times that we weren’t allowed to use those bathrooms [because] they would literally overflow. I think it’s just going to show that they would put them in situations where they just really didn’t care.
“They just really wanted the shots. They wanted those extreme things.”
In the same interview, former 2009 contestant Holly shared that she suffered from an eating disorder and suicidal ideation following her time on the show.
“I was one of those who ended up with an eating disorder. I’m fully recovered now, which is amazing. But one example, food challenges. We were told that if we were eating, we were cheating. That was one thing the powers above would always say to us.
“Our training team had decided to drink a litre of milkshake in this challenge. We all found ourselves in the Manly Surf Club toilets, all with our fingers down our throats, purging.”
Holly also claimed that she, along with other contestants, was using things like laxatives to make their weight loss more extreme.
The former contestant shared that she attempted to leave the show twice.
“I was suffering extreme depression due to my treatment,” she said.
Thankfully, Holly says she’s much happier and healthier now, but feels that it’s her duty to speak up about what she experienced on the show.
“I’m really good. I’m happily married. I have two beautiful boys with one on the way,” she shared.
“This is where I’m at, and I’m ready to speak out and to try and get at least an apology for all these people that have been so hurt by such a toxic environment.”
You can watch Fit For TV: The Reality Of The Biggest Loser on Netflix.
Help is available.
If you’re in distress, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or chat online. If it’s an emergency, please call 000.
Under 25? You can reach Kids Helpline at 1800 55 1800 or chat online.
If you need support around disordered eating, give Butterfly Foundation a call on 1800 33 4673 or chat online.
The post Ex Biggest Loser Host Ajay Rochester Is Spilling Non-Stop Tea About The Aussie Show appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
