Half a decade after the curtain fell on The Biggest Loser’s final season, former participants of the weight-loss reality show are opening up about the drastic steps they’ve taken to maintain their weight loss.

The acclaimed series, which graced screens for 18 seasons on NBC and USA, showcased individuals from across the United States shedding significant amounts of weight, often losing between 100 to 200 pounds.

Contestants enjoyed exclusive access to a dedicated team comprising medical professionals, nutritionists, therapists, and renowned trainers such as Bob Harper, Jillian Michaels, Dolvett Quince, Jennifer Widerstrom, Steve Cook, and Erica Lugo.

Over time, the show stirred up controversy, with detractors claiming it focused too heavily on the scale instead of the broader aspects of the contestants’ health and well-being.

While the journey appeared rapid, compressed into a few months of episodes, the actual competition spanned a rigorous 30 weeks.

The Daily Mail recently caught up with five past contestants, who shared insights into their ongoing health journeys and continued weight loss strategies. Notably, they are steering clear of popular weight-loss medications like Ozempic and Mounjaro.

The Biggest Loser, which ran for 18 seasons, saw obese or overweight people from across the US dropping upwards of 100 to 200 pounds (pictured: season 2 contestants)

After being a trainer on the show for many years, Bob Harper (center) took over hosting duties for the final two seasons (pictured with trainers Jen Widerstrom and Dolvett Quince in 2016)

Jillian Michaels was a trainer on The Biggest Loser for 12 seasons (pictured in 2009)

Suzy Preston Hoover & Matt Hoover 

Suzy, 49, and her husband Matt, 49, from Seattle, Washington, are celebrating 20 years since appearing on season 2 of The Biggest Loser. 

The pair met while competing on the show and lost a combined 252 pounds (Matt shed 157 and Suzy lost 95). Although Matt won and Suzy placed third, they said it didn’t help eating ‘fake food’ and ‘more Splenda than you could imagine,’ because they ultimately had to learn how to break their food addictions. 

Matt, a pharmaceutical sales rep and wrestling coach, met Suzy, a hairdresser, during filming and they married a year later. They welcomed their first son, Rex, in 2007 and their second son, Jax, a year later – setting Suzy back in her weight-loss effort. 

After ballooning to 278 pounds, she decided a year ago to undergo gastric sleeve surgery, which reduces the size of the stomach so it can hold less food.

She decided to go that route because her husband had success with the same surgery five years earlier and lost a pound a day for 120 days post-surgery – estimating he had lost 150 pounds.

Matt Hoover, a season 2 competitor, started the competition at 339 pounds

Matt’s now-wife Suzy started the competition at 227 pounds

The now-married couple lost a combined 252 pounds (Matt, center, lost 157 and Suzy lost 95). Seth Word, left, finished second after losing 123 pounds (pictured in 2005)

‘As I got older – and truth be told, when perimenopause hit – my weight started literally weighing me down,’ Suzy revealed. ‘It was hindering me from being involved in my life anymore. And I realized that I had become a burden for my kids, which was just devastating to me.’

She had the surgery in May 2024 and lost 124 pounds, eventually settling in at around 154 pounds. Today she lives a ‘very active life’ and walks an average of 12,000 steps a day.

The downside of her surgery is she ‘immediately’ throws up if she eats too much.

‘I have to now think about what I put in my body more mathematically and it has to be solely nutrition because if not, then it’s not good,’ she explained. ‘I don’t really waste time with carbohydrates because they give me no nutritional value.’

Her advice? ‘I’d say research the surgery and see if it’s a best fit for you because that’s what works for me,’ Suzy said, warning that the procedure requires many months of preparation and recovery.

‘I’ve told a ton of family and friends and I joke, “Just go get your stomach cut out.”‘ 

Suzy and Matt both had gastric sleeve surgery to lose weight after The Biggest Loser (pictured with their sons Jax and Rex)

Suzy had the gastric sleeve surgery in May of 2024 and currently weighs around 154 pounds

Olivia Ward & Hannah Curlee Young

Olivia Ward, 49, took home the trophy in season 11 after losing an astonishing 129 pounds (starting at 261 and getting down to 132). 

Her sister Hannah, 46, was the runner-up  – weighing 248 pounds when she started and working 120 of them off during the course of the season.

Although Olivia said that the lessons she learned from the show ‘overflowed into every aspect’ of her life, she admitted that there have been ‘ups and downs both physically and mentally’ following the show.

Olivia has kept in touch with trainer Bob Harper, someone she’s still ‘extremely close’ with. She even named her son Harper after him.

Since leaving the show, Olivia has ‘maintained a healthy weight,’ after giving birth to two sons, Harper, 10 and Felix, 5. 

Olivia admitted that she is not a ‘scale watcher,’ because the number ‘can be such a mental trap,’ but said she’s currently around 150 pounds and a size 6/8.

‘I like to use metrics like how my clothes fit and how my body feels to hold me accountable in my maintenance journey,’ she said.

Hannah had her first child in 2016 with husband and personal trainer Pate Young, and gave birth to her second last year at 45 years old.

‘I truly believe that keeping up with a balanced, healthy lifestyle, helped me beat the odds of having at baby this age,’ she said.

Hannah also avoids the scale – estimating she weighs around 160 pounds or less – and instead keeps up with her measurements and tries to get a body fat test once a year.

At 5-foot-10 and a size 8, she says: ‘I feel great and am very proud of where I am today!’

She credited her husband and focusing on a healthy lifestyle, including walking 10,000 steps a day and strength training three to four times a week.

The sisters launched their passion project, the wellness program CounterBalance, in 2022, helping ‘hundreds of people transform their bodies and lives as they shed hundreds of pounds and reclaim their lives.’

The siblings practice what they preach by following the program, which includes ‘tracking calories, prioritizing protein, keeping hydration consistent and striving to make sure each plate is balanced.’

‘We don’t cut any food groups out, which allows us to customize our own eating plan based on the foods we love,’ Olivia explained..

Hannah added that she maintains a ‘mild calorie deficit’ while prioritizing whole foods, sticking each day to 100 grams of protein, 100 ounces of water and three meals.

She ‘doesn’t usually snack much in between meals,’ but when she does, she suggested a Cosmic Crisp apple with a mini Brie cheese or kosher dill pickles.

Olivia Ward was the winner of season 11 of The Biggest Loser. She started the competition weighing 261 pounds

Olivia lost an astonishing 129 pounds, with her final weigh-in at 132 pounds (pictured in 2011)

Olivia remains ‘extremely close’ to trainer Bob Harper today. She says her current weight is around 150 pounds

Hannah weighed 248 pounds when she joined the reality show’s 11th season

Hannah was the runner-up in 2011, getting down to 128 pounds

Hannah, 45, welcomed her second son over a year ago, and is now a size 8. Although she avoids the scale, she says she’s around 160 pounds or less 

Patrick House

Patrick, the winner of season 10 who took home the $250,000 grand prize, lost a total of 181 pounds on the show after starting at 400 pounds.

The 42-year-old, who wrote the book ‘As Big as a House: How One Biggest Loser Winner Took a Look at Himself and Made the Change of a Lifetime,’ is now the director of sales & marketing at a resort in Palm Harbor, Florida.

He takes advantage of place of residence, using the outdoors as a gym for ‘fun, healthy and active’ workouts, he said.

‘I love taking my wife and daughter to the beach,’ he shared of his daughter Kelsyn, 6, while also noting his two sons – Colton, 18, and Caden, 17 – who were featured on the show.

Patrick ran the Boston Marathon five years in a row between 2011 and 2015 ‘I still love running,’ he said. ‘I am working back into it, but would love to do another marathon.’ 

Despite life after Biggest Loser being ‘tough without Bob and Jillian,’ he said he was ‘laser-focused’ on his health and wellness immediately following the show.

He currently weighs 265 pounds and admitted that he is working on getting down to his goal of 235-240 by the end of this summer.

Patrick started at 400 pounds when he first joined The Biggest Loser in season 10 

In the end, Patrick took home the grand prize of $250,000 after losing a total of 181 pounds on the show (pictured in 2010)

Today, the As Big as a House author weighs around 265 pounds and he is working on losing more weight by the end of this summer

He is sticking to a healthy regime of diet and exercise to try to shed the pounds. 

‘I usually try and eat a piece of fruit for breakfast, a salad for lunch with some protein and a protein-laden dinner,’ he said. 

As far as upping the ante in his workouts, ‘I am working to incorporate more strength training in my standard cardio routine,’ Patrick said.

He is also considering Ozempic, if all else fails. ‘Anything that can help you achieve your health and wellness goals,’ he said.