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The Biggest Loser's Bob and Jillian Say Forget the Money, You Have to Want It!
by Troy Rogers
After another stellar season of NBC's The Biggest Loser where family members were paired together to compete to lose the most pounds on their way to becoming healthier and $250,000 richer, show trainers Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels were proud to see this year's winner, Michelle Aguilar, walk away with the prize of The Biggest Loser Families. Although the season was filled with emotional highs and lows like previous seasons, Bob and Jillian had their work cut out for them with the families, as they also had to deal with spousal and sibling issues outside of the gym and ranch. For Michelle, The Biggest Loser opened up a new chapter in their mother - daughter relationship, which Jillian Michaels had a huge hand in reshaping since Michelle was part of Jillian's Black Team.
 At the same time, Bob and Jillian also had to deal with several personality clashes and egos, as Michelle was also up against two formidable opponents in Heba and Vicky, who were more dominant and aggressive than the Season 5 winner.
Following Michelle's victory as this season's winner, we traded in our treadmill for the phone to meet up with Bob and Jillian, plus Biggest Loser producer Mark Koops, on a conference call to find out how they deal with difficult people, whether their approach to the contestants is different, how they feel about the show's prize money as an added incentive, and whether they'll be indulging in treats over the holidays.
THE DEADBOLT: I know you both like to challenge yourself, but how do you deal with someone who doesn’t listen or is extremely lazy?
BOB HARPER: Well, for me, then they’re not ready.
JILLIAN MICHAELS: Yes.
BOB: That’s why I tell people all the time, "I can’t want it for you." I mean, Jillian and I are in there and we will bust you up and get you back - and put you back together again. But if you don’t want it, I mean, there’s nothing I can do for you until you’re ready. Let me know.
JILLIAN: I couldn’t agree more. And I mean that’s what’s Bob’s entire book is about. That’s the title of his entire book. The foundation of your question is like, "Do you really want to make this change?" Because if you do, here’s everything you need. If you don’t, well then, you know, put this back on the shelf and pick me up at a later date if you ever find that you’re ready. Because otherwise it’s pointless.
 MARK KOOPS: The one thing I would add to that - I think the trainers find a way to make them ready. I mean, we’ve seen it past - we saw it in this season where week three Michelle wasn’t ready. She was ready to go home. She was ready not to commit to the process and go home. And, you know, Jillian got her to commit to the process, got her to commit to changing her life, got her to taking those small steps, you know. And through that, I mean, the result so obviously was shown on Tuesday night.
So, you know, even sometimes they’re not ready to come but Bob and Jillian find a way to make them face up to it and be ready to make a change. And I think, again, I can’t speak highly enough about what they do to make people face up to what they have to face up to.
THE DEADBOLT: Since you both enjoy working out and you know how to shed the pounds, do you let yourself off the hook over the holidays?
BOB: Never.
THE DEADBOLT: Never?
BOB: No, I’m kidding.
JILLIAN: Bob never does. Like, we had to get up at 3:00 in the morning the other day to do a satellite feed to New York. I went home and went straight to bed, saw him on set later, and I’m like this, "I am so rested." He’s like, "I’m exhausted." I’m like, "What did you do?" "Well I went to the gym and then..." You know, I was like, "You what?" Like, he’s just - he’s extremely dedicated.
He motivates me in that way and he always has. To like, push. And one of our jokes, like at the finale the other night, I jumped in on one of his interviews because I like to do that - and I was just talking about how he had trained me when we were in Australia. And there was a point when he had me running, like, I don’t know, 15 miles [an hour]. It was in kilometers so I don’t remember. But he had me running the crazy sprints and literally thought I was going to die. Like, "You’re insane. You’re going to kill me. I’m going to get hurt."
And of course I ended up being able to do it and I don’t think I’ve ever been more in love with him than I was at the end of that night, because he reminded me of what I’m really capable and that I don’t always push outside the box and that I am capable of more. So he truly loves it. It is his passion. It is not mine. It is a means to an end for me. But he does inspire me in that way and he keeps me on the straight and narrow.
 BOB: I love that. I mean, I do. It’s like, when I’m going through the holidays, I really do believe - Let me tell you, when I first started Biggest Loser, I remember having a conversation with myself, saying that I want to make sure that I practice what I preach. I want to make sure that I live what I want - the way that I want you to live. So it’s a part of my life. It’s in my fiber of being. It’s like it’s implanted in my soul.
And that’s why - where I come from with my contestants, that’s what I want to do. I want to show them a new way of living. That’s why I love when Jillian and I get these contestants like Bernie from Season 5 who now is like running marathons. It’s like, you get people - you get these contestants - you awaken something in them and it’s just like, it’s a responsibility that Jillian and I have to them that we take very seriously. And it’s just my way of living.
THE DEADBOLT: Do you guys believe it’s the money that makes some of the contestants turn really nasty? Or is it just the competitive [spirit].
BOB: Jillian, go.
JILLIAN: Bob had a great idea the other night. And I mean, he was like, "You know what, I would love to see them take the cash prize and donate it to charity of the winner’s choice."
BOB HARPER: I love that idea. I said that to Jillian. I was like, "You know what? I think we continue to let them go for the money but they have to give the money to a charity and let’s see what happens." Because of course - you have to remember we are shooting the show. We’re living in this bubble. And all of a sudden it’s been months and months and they’ve been away, and everything has just like escalated in our lives, and they just start to think about the money too. Or some of them do. They start to think about, like, really wanting to win that money.
And, you know, it’s up to us to really keep them grounded and realize that life goes on after that. Great, you’re going to win the money but what next? What’s going to be the next part of your life? Don’t let it all be about money.
JILLIAN: We have [let them see] the bigger picture. Like, why is your health not enough?
BOB: Right.
THE DEADBOLT: Exactly.
 JILLIAN: And that kind of infuriates me. I have people that would pay a gazillion dollars to be able to work with us, or to be on that campus for one day. They get all of this for free and, "Oh, so sorry, you didn’t win a quarter of a million dollars, too." Shut up! It is infuriating to me.
MARK: But I think most of the contestants do come to compete - to get their health back as their first priority. The money can be a motivating factor, you know, as sort of anyone will admit to in their lives. But I think most of them do come there first and foremost to make a change, because the odds, by the way, of winning [aren’t] that great, you know. It’s a game with many twists and turns and, The Biggest Loser, as pointed out, is not necessarily the person who wins at the end of the day.
You know, Heba and Phil and Amy all technically had a higher percentage of weight loss than Michelle but Michelle won the title of The Biggest Loser. But equally I think, Heba, Amy, and Phil - as Michelle did - made an incredible change - and all the other contestants made an incredible change to their lives. And I think that’s what they’ll take. And I think the finale has now become - for us it’s like having family back. There are so many of the past seasons’ contestants who come back - whether it be Bernie or Ali or Dan and his mother, Jackie.
And just seeing them come back and the health they have, that to me as a producer is one of the most - and I’m sure for Bob and Jillian - is one of the most rewarding things to see. People from Season 1 to Season 5, coming back and sitting there at the finale, you know, the picture of health. That’s sort of really the legacy of the show, rather than somebody winning money.
-- Troy Rogers
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