“Embarrassing As Entertainment”: Channel 4 AXE Controversial Reality Series After Dividing CRITICS and Viewers

Channel 4 has shelved the controversial reality series, Around The World in 80 Weighs, after dividing critics and viewers alike with scenes dubbed ‘shaming as entertainment’.

The programme followed six obese contestants as they toured Japan, Texas, Tonga and India in a bid to learn weight loss secrets.

First airing on the broadcaster in January 2024, the show, which was initially meant to be a standalone series, released five episodes over a month-long period.

Now, Daily Mail can reveal that the controversial show will not be returning for a second season.

A source told us: ‘With The Biggest Loser now in the spotlight thanks to a Netflix exposé on the impact it had on contributors, weight-loss formats that were once aplenty on channels are a touchy subject for executives to manage these days.

‘Around The World in 80 Weighs caused a stir with critics and its audience, but while Channel 4 had originally commissioned it for one series, there was scope for it to be brought back with a new batch of participants after they established the show’s format.

‘The series being parked is reflective of changing audience habits where programmes remotely reminiscent of noughties hits that created a shame culture on other people’s lives and their struggles for entertainment purposes is widely shunned.’

The news comes several days after contestants from the noughties weight loss show, The Biggest Loser, opened up about some of the extreme measures they took to shed the pounds.

The hit series, which ran for 18 seasons on NBC and USA, saw obese or overweight people from across the US dropping upwards of 100 or even 200 pounds over a matter of months.

Now Netflix has released a new three-part documentary about the programme, featuring people who appeared on The Biggest Loser, as well as producers, the show’s doctor, and trainer Bob Harper (although the other coach – Jillian Michaels – declined to take part).

The show ran from 2004 to 2016, airing on NBC, before it was cancelled. It was then rebooted on the USA Network in 2020, before being cancelled after just one season.

In its heyday, the programme went global, with versions appearing in countries around the world, earning hundreds of millions of dollars.

The branding was licensed for products including cookbooks, DVDs, and weight-loss camps.

When its NBC run was cancelled in 2016, it came after controversy, with critics arguing that it prioritised a number on the scale rather than contestants’ overall health and well-being.

Netflix’s new docuseries, titled Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser, ‘takes a look behind-the-scenes, exploring its cultural relevance and complicated legacy’ – and as part of that, previous contestants spoke on camera about some of the dangerous habits they practiced in a bid to lose the most weight, and scoop the $250,000 prize.

Those practices included fasting for 10 days and surviving on minimal calories while undergoing intense exercise regimes, among others.

According to Netflix: ‘On their weight loss journeys, contestants were separated into teams and created workout and nutrition plans with trainers.

‘The teams would compete in various challenges for prizes – like physical competitions or willpower tests – such as “temptations,” in which contestants were tempted by high-calorie food or drinks.’

The contestant who lost the highest percentage relative to their starting weight won the series.

Season one winner, Ryan Benson, admitted that he was doing ‘super dangerous things’ in the run-up to the final.

Speaking about his experience on the show, he said: ‘This was the first reality show where people make a physical change. That weight that we were losing was real. You can’t fake that.’

He added that as they got closer to the final, he ‘lost all focus about getting healthy, and the focus became winning’ – and he added that he sometimes feels he has ‘PTSD’ from taking part in the programme.

‘The final episode was a live episode,’ Ryan said. ‘We are here live in Hollywood. They were doing it in the same studio where they filmed American Idol. During the final weigh-in, it’s just so nerve-racking.’

He continued: ‘It worked out great, because I won, but I was doing what most doctors would say were super unhealthy things.

‘The last 10 days, I didn’t put any food in my body. I was doing the master cleanse – drinking lemon juice, and maple syrup, and cayenne pepper – all these tricks that are super unhealthy, just to cut weight.

‘At the final weigh in, we had to do a urine test. They said, “Ryan, there’s blood in your urine, which obviously means you’re so dehydrated”.’

He noted that the ‘one thing’ he ‘really remembers’ from the final is Jillian congratulating him on his win.

‘She gives me a big hug, and she says, “Ryan, you just made me a millionaire,”’ he claimed.

When reached for comment by the Daily Mail, Jillian Michaels denied that she said that to Ryan.

She posted a text on her Instagram from co-creator and executive producer Dave Broome in which he said: ‘At no time did I ever hear any comment from Jillian about becoming a millionaire during the live finale’.

This was far from the only concerning alleged experience reported by previous contestants: two who appeared in the docuseries spoke about the staggering amount of calories they burned daily while on the ‘ranch’ – the secluded location where participants stayed during filming.

Joelle Gwynn, who appeared in season seven of The Biggest Loser in 2009, said: ‘The first week, we needed to burn a minimum of 6,000 calories a day.’

Meanwhile, Danny Cahill, who won the $250,000 prize for season eight after losing 239 pounds in just over six months, discussed his restrictive plan.

He achieved staggering weight loss in the first week, dropping 24lb. This continued into week two, where he lost 12lb.

In the third week, he lost four pounds – still well over the one to pounds that is considered healthy – but this was hugely disappointing to Danny.