Wow! This just announced: Jillian Michaels is leaving “The Biggest Loser“ after her contract is up follwoing the current Season 11 which is now shooting (and begins airing in January).
Her reason?
“I want to take a year off TV and focus on becoming a mommy and doing more charity work,” Michaels tweeted. “Shooting ‘Losing It‘ also had a big impact on me. Living with kids I saw first hand what I was missing.” ~ EntertainmentWeekly
Jilian also said that a female replacement has already been found and will be introduced during the upcoming season.
I’m going to take the high road here and say her departure is not because of all the controversy surrounding her credentials as a trainer. She was called out quite publicly by the LA Times recently for her online certifications and threatened to sue the newspaper.
What would be nice is if she used the time off to pick up a few certifications; may I suggest the American College of Sports Medicine certification since she works primarily with the morbidly obese population?
Or perhaps she’ll go a different route, opening a star-studded personal training studio and launching a fresh line of workout DVDs. Of course, if she does start a family, there will be the opportunity to film some pre-natal and post-partum stuff.
I truly hope the next trainer that “The Biggest Loser” hires has some real credentials behind her. I’d love to see someone with a bachelor’s in exercise science or kinesiology. That would be something, wouldn’t it? The show essentially runs a medical facility since they are working exclusively with the morbidly obese.
What do you think? Are you glad Jillian is leaving? Did all the controversy make it difficult to accept her training ideas? What do you think her next step should be? Are you a Jillian fan or a Jillian skeptic?
Lisa