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By Kate Dailey
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Break out the Kleenex and the cookie dough. Tonight is NBC's weight loss reality show mega-hit The Biggest Loser's seventh season finale, which means three hours of jaw-dropping transformations, tear-inducing montages, and Jenny-O turkey product placement (plus about 90 minutes of filler).
To commemorate the occasion, NEWSWEEK's Kate Dailey sat down with Bob Harper, one of the trainers charged with getting Biggest Loser contestants in shape—at least for the duration of the season. He answered critics who say the show is too rigorous for its overweight contestants, explained why so many "losers" gain the weight back after the show wraps, and updated us on the fate of Max Morelli, the overweight teenager who rose to sudden national attention on the show—even though he wasn't one of the contestants. Max's father Ron, and brother, Mike, have made it to the final four – and the reunion scenes where Max struggled with being the last of the overweight Morelli men were some of the most emotional of the series. (Expect to see Max – as well as all slimmer versions of the season's entire cast -- at the finale.) Excerpts:
Dailey: So this season was the heaviest season ever [in terms of the weight of contestants on the show], and the longest season ever.
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Bob Harper: It sure was. Let me tell you, it was the heaviest, the biggest, the most exhausting --you name the extreme, that's what it was.
When you have people who are really heavy and you're working them really hard [basically non-stop workouts for 17 weeks] people can get injured. You even saw [contestant] Laura with her hip [stress fracture]. Is that a concern for you? How do you make sure you train responsibly?
It's definitely a concern. I've been on the show since season one, and I've really learned how far I can push someone and how I can push someone. There's a fine line that you have to walk there, but I believe that I've figured it out. I really try to show people if you have an injury, there is a way to work around it. There's always something you can do. Especially in our extreme situation where an injury could send you home, people are always going to try to figure out a way to work out, so I'm always going to try and find a way to do it.
Do you think the people on the show are more at risk for injury because they're in such an intense public competition?
Absolutely. You put someone that's never worked out before into that extreme of a situation and they definitely could get injured, but one thing that I've realized is overweight people are really, really strong. You imagine they're carrying around so much weight on a daily basis, so people don't realize just how strong they are.
On the last episode, you found out that the final four contestants were required as part of the show to run in a marathon. So putting them in a race like that was not your idea?
No. When I heard they were doing a marathon, I was like, you have got to be kidding me. People train for months doing a marathon. But I have gotten so many e-mails about that show, because everyone was so inspirational that night.
We saw a lot of the former contestants coming out to run [legs of the marathon along side the current contestants], and they looked great, but there have also been some former contestants--Ryan Benson, the winner of the first season and Erik Chopin [from season three] have publicly gained back the weight. What do you think the difference is?
To me, what I think, you look at any kind of diet plan, any kind of book that's ever been out there, you're going to see practically an 80 percent failure rate. I think that we're kind of around a 50-50 percent rate. What I think it is that people realize that after the cameras are gone, or after you've reached your "goal weight" that you can go back to your old life. And people have to divorce themselves from the lives that they used to live.
I think that is where the major disconnect happens with so many people, not just the people on our show. Ask anybody that loses weight on any kind of plan and then gains it back. It's a day-to-day effort. I mean, I'm in this business and I have to make sure that I'm fit, I'm as healthy as I can possibly be. And there are times when it's really annoying and exhausting.
Do you think there are some people who are just meant to be heavy?
No. I don't think there are people who are just meant to be heavy. There are different genetics, different body types, and not everyone is going to look like Giselle, but I think that you can be the best and healthiest you that you can possibly be.
Do you think you can be a healthy person if you're overweight?
No. (laughs) I think that overweight people put so much stress in their heart. Heart disease is one of the major killers in America, and a big part of it has to do with obesity. You have to be able to control your weight to live a healthy life.
By the time of the finale, the [remaining] contestants have usually done some extra hardcore training to prepare for the finale, and everyone is super svelte and super pumped – is that realistic?
You have to remember they're playing a game at that point. The people looking to win that cash prize; they're going to come in thinner than they probably should be. That's something you're not going to be able to maintain with this kind of rigorous training. It becomes that maintenance after the show, where you really hope that whatever you've thrown at them, something has stuck so you had the tools that you need. People like [season five contestant] Ally, the first girl that won. That girl looks better now than she did at the finale.
One of the surprise narratives for a lot of the viewers this year was the story of Max. A lot of people saw him and their heart just went out to him. In part because he didn't sign up to be on the show [but appeared in reunion scenes], and because all of a sudden all of America is talking about how fat he is. Can you talk about your experience working with Max, and how he seems to be dealing with this new-found attention?
I have been doing everything in my power to get Max onto our next season. Max is a boy that really does need help. He really responded to me, and he has come to me and said I need to be with you 24-7, and I said, yeah, I think you do too. This guy is 17 years old and he is over 400 lbs. The one problem is with legal issues on the show, you can't have someone under the age of 18 for more than 10 hours on a set.
I've been talking to Max a lot over the phone and trying to keep his head on straight. He does have this newfound attention with everyone knowing him, but the greatest thing about it is that everyone is on Max's side. That's what I'm trying to show him. It's like, people want to help you, people are praying for you. People are hoping that you are able to make it through this. I'm trying to do everything I possibly can.
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