Jillian Michaels has broken her silence on Netflix’s Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser, refuting claims made in the new docuseries, and is reportedly planning legal action.
Michaels, 51, alongside Bob Harper, 60, was one of the personal trainers on the NBC reality show, which aired from 2004 to 2016, following obese people as they attempted to lose weight as quickly as possible using only diet and exercise for a $250,000 cash prize.
Michaels, especially, was known for her ruthless attitude towards contestants during workouts, which is put under scrutiny in Netflix’s documentary featuring interviews from past contestants. While Harper was involved and interviewed as part of the series, Michaels declined.
In the documentary, Michaels’s 2013 controversy, when producers accused her of breaking the rules by giving her team caffeine pills without a doctor’s permission, is revisited.
Elsewhere, Harper tells the cameras that Michaels never reached out to him after he suffered a massive, near-fatal heart attack in 2017.
On Tuesday, Michaels turned to Instagram to share alleged email and text chains between herself, The Biggest Loser producers, and Harper.
“This is one email of many that shows: Dr. Huizenga did approve caffeine pills on many seasons of Biggest Loser, Bob Harper not only knew about the caffeine pills the ‘stackers fat burner’ were actually his suggestion. I wanted to use my brand instead because they were cleaner and had no more than 200mg of caffeine (equivalent to a strong cup of coffee). Caffeine was NEVER banned on The Biggest Loser.”
“Wild how some folks still lie like it’s 1985 before texts and email were a thing,” she added.
Michaels concluded her post, writing: “And, the last image is my second to last text ever to Bob Harper. Take from it what you will.”
The text shows Michaels’s alleged text to Harper, timestamped June 15, 2014.
“I really think it’s s****y of you to not even respond to my texts. It’s this kind of thing that always makes me so disappointed [in] our relationship,” Michaels reportedly sent to Harper.
In a recent interview with The Guardian, Harper acknowledged that he and Michaels “weren’t besties, but we were partners on a television show for a very long time.”
He said that her silence “spoke volumes to me,” adding, “I would not expect Jillian Michaels to do anything other than what she wants to do.”
In a second post, Michaels addressed a claim in the documentary that she told a contestant during a Biggest Loser season finale: “You’re going to make me a millionaire.”
“I want to state unequivocally that this is false,” she wrote on Instagram. “The full moment was captured on camera, and both the contestant and I were wearing microphones. If such a comment had been made, it would exist on the audio record.”
Michaels reportedly told TMZ that she would be speaking to attorney Bryan Freedman — who is currently representing Justin Baldoni in his legal matter with Blake Lively. The publication reports that the trainer is weighing up legal action against Netflix, the producer of the documentary, Harper, and The Biggest Loser’s medical advisor, Dr. Robert Huizenga.
The Independent has contacted representatives for Michaels, Harper, and Netflix for comment.
Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser is available to watch on Netflix.
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