For 11 years, The Biggest Loser was a regular part of Australia’s TV diet.
From 2006 until 2017, trainers Michelle Bridges, Shannan Ponton, Steve ‘Commando’ Willis, and Tiffiny Hall put regular Australians through their paces as they lost a staggering amount of weight while participating in the reality TV series.
It’s been eight years since the show wrapped up but The Biggest Loser is back in the zeitgeist again with the release of Netflix’s new docu-series, Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser.
Here’s what the trainers and hosts from The Biggest Loser Australia are doing now.
01
Michelle Bridges
Seasons 2-11
Fitness influencer Michelle Bridges joined the cast of The Biggest Loser in its second season in 2007.
The 54-year-old left the long-running reality series in 2015, along with her partner at the time, Steve ‘Commando’ Willis.
“It was a big part of our lives. 10 years is a really long time and I’m really proud of the work that I did,” she said on the The Today Show at the time.
“We’re pretty excited about our new future.”
The couple welcomed their son Axel the same year and split in 2020.
Amid the split, the television personality was hit with a DUI charge and she’s since described 2020 as one of the hardest years of her life.
“You go through some amazing times and you go through some dark times,” she said during an appearance on the Jess Rowe Big Talk Show. “That was one of them for me, probably one of the hardest times of my life, really.”
“It feels like 50 per cent of Australia are co-parenting right now,” she said. “So there’ll be many of your listeners that have been through a relationship breakdown when there’s children involved.
“There [I] was, unfortunately, eight kilos lighter than I am, stressed to the eyeballs and sitting up with my girlfriends, having too many red wines and crying on their shoulders,” she continued.
“And the next morning going out and having a DUI, which was, again, really public.
“I thought things couldn’t get worse. They just did.”
While appearing on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here in 2024, Michelle said the way she was portrayed on the show still haunts her.
“I think this is a good reason for me to be doing this show [I’m A Celebrity], because I think there’s still very much a legacy or a hangover from my days as being a trainer on The Biggest Loser,” she said to her fellow celebs.
“A lot of people think I’m gonna walk into a room, make them give me a testimonial on what they ate last night and give me 50 burpees.
“I think they think I’m still like that. I’m nothing like that. And I never was in the first place.”
02
Steve ‘Commando’ Willis
Seasons 2-10
The ‘Commando‘ joined the show in its second season and left after the 10th season, along with his partner Michelle.
He now owns Get Commando Fit Group Training in Rouse Hill in Sydney’s Hills District, which he runs with his partner and F45 coach Harika Vancuylenberg.
“I’m proud to say [Harika] is an amazing woman. She really digs in. She works hard,” he told the Daily Mail last year.
“She’s a fantastic mother to her kids and she’s definitely a fantastic human being to my kids. She’s very thoughtful and considerate.”
Steve shares Axel with Michelle and also has three older children — Briana, 25, Ella, 16, Jack, 13 — who he had in his early twenties. He has a “big blended family” with his four kids and Harika’s two kids from a previous relationship.
Last year, the former soldier said he had “softened” since leaving the show.
“I definitely don’t live my life in [Commando] character,” he told the publication. “I’m a lot more considerate and just, I don’t need to feel so compelled to interject.”
“Axel is still young. How I father him is different to the older ones. You give the older ones a little more space.”
03
Shannan Ponton
Seasons 2-11
Shannan Ponton first joined the series in 2007, when he came onboard to train the blue team alongside American Biggest Loser trainer, Bob Harper.
When Bob went back to the US during the second week of training, Shannan became the official trainer of the blue team and he continued to train the blue team until the show wrapped in 2017.
In 2015, he accused Michelle and Steve of forming an alliance against his blue team and fellow trainer Tiffany Hall’s white team.
“You guys are driving to and from work together in a car, you’re not going to sit there and go, ‘Oh sorry babe, my team voted you out today’,” he said.
Michelle then accused Shannan and Tiffany of forming their own alliance.
“That’s bulls***,” Shannan responded. “You two are in a relationship and I’m over the smoke and mirrors … You’ve got a partner, you would never vote your partner out.”
“There’s no doubt that the alliance emerged from the relationship that exists between Commando and Michelle,” he later said on the show.
Shannan later defended his comments during an interview with the Daily Telegraph and confirmed they weren’t edited on the show.
“It wasn’t contrived or edited at all. [What you saw on screen] was a fair representation to get my message across,” Shannan told the publication.
“I stand behind it, a hundred per cent. They’re a couple!”
When the show returned for its final season in 2017, Shannan was the only trainer to return, alongside new trainer Libby Babet.
In 2020, he appeared on SAS Australia, which he described as the “toughest test” of his life.
“100% unscripted reality tv. Not one retake or production crew to check in. We were totally isolated. I did find out how far I could go. No question! Not much food, not much sleep, but plenty of energy and support from most of the recruits,” he wrote on Instagram at the time.
Shannan tied the knot to his wife Kylie Stray in 2010 and the pair went on to have three children together, Max, Mila and Bronx
04
Tiffiny Hall
Seasons 6-10
Tiff Hall joined the training team in season six and remained on the show until season 10.
In 2014, she married comedian Ed Kavalee and four years later the couple welcomed their son Arnold.
The 41-year-old now runs her online fitness coaching business and has no plans to return to reality TV.
“I didn’t like the narrative of reality TV and I didn’t agree with The Biggest Loser’s ideals and values at the time,” she told Mamamia in 2021. “I was really happy to let that go and I don’t think I’ll ever return to television.”
In 2021, she was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS).
“I was running a business, had a baby, and then I had a crash. I never had a crash as a mother before,” she told Mamamia. “And I couldn’t initiate the self-care things that would work because you are on 24/7 with a 24/7 business and a 24/7 child.”
05
Ajay Rochester
Seasons 1-4
Ajay Rochester hosted The Biggest Loser for its first four seasons.
She later started the website The Healthy Body Club and wrote three books — Confessions of a Reformed Dieter, Blubberguts and The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Losing Weight and Getting Fit.
Since leaving The Biggest Loser, the now 56-year-old has spoken about her experience on the show and what really happened behind the scenes.
In a series of TikToks, she explained that the weekly weigh-in was rarely actually weekly.
“The longest was about five or six weeks that we did in Australia, I do believe that in America it may have been longer,” she said.
“So ‘a week’ in television time is rarely ever a week in real-time. You can realistically lose that amount of weight in a week.”
Ajay also revealed that she hated saying ‘it’s time to cut the fat’ on the show.
“I hated it so much that I would laugh and get the giggles and I would laugh so much that I would get into trouble,” she said. “We all hated it, we all knew that it was stupid and horrible but it was kinda like the catchphrase or whatever”.
06
Fiona Falkiner
Seasons 10-11
Fiona Falkiner first joined the show as a contestant in the very first season.
She later returned to host the series in season 10 and 11. Speaking to Woman’s Day before season 10 premiered, Fiona said she was learning to love her body more.
“I’m not perfect, but it’s me and I’m happy and I’m healthy,” she said. “I love my curves. I’m soft and curvy but I’m also healthy and strong. I’m happier now than when I was skinnier.”
She went from a size 20 to a size 12 while on the show.
“I lost too much weight to be a plus-size model,” she said, explaining that she’d signed with a modelling agent before she had even finished the show. “I had the experience of literally going in for a couple of months and coming out – boom, and I was skinny.
“It was an amazing time, but I also realised my problems didn’t have anything to do with the number on the scales. The person you see right now is so far from that girl I was back then.”
The 41-year-old is now a successful model and influencer. In 2013, Sports presenter Hayley Willis message Fiona on Instagram. The pair have since tied the knot and welcomed two sons together named Hunter and Spencer.
07
Hayley Lewis
Seasons 5-10
Former Olympic swimming champion Hayley Lewis hosted the show from 2010 until 2014.
After she left the show, Hayley defended its approach on an appearance on The Today Show.
“Olympian and former Biggest Loser host Hayley Lewis says the show gives unrealistic advice about how weight loss should be achieved,” Today co-host Karl Stefanovic said at the start of the segment.
Co-host Lisa Wilkinson then crossed to Hayley in Brisbane with this question: “So tell us — is The Biggest Loser unrealistic?”
“I don’t think so. I’ve actually never said that, Lisa. I think The Biggest Loser is very realistic,” Hayley replied. “Even though I’m not the host anymore, I’m still a big believer in the show, I’ll still watch the show, I love the show.”
“I’ve never said anything negative about The Biggest Loser. And I won’t.”
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