★★★★★ 0/5

The Biggest Confuser

Just two episodes in, and incomplete storylines are raising too many questions about TEN's reality show.

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The Biggest Loser is fast turning into the Biggest Confuser.

Just two episodes in, and its incomplete storylines are raising too many questions.

Yes, we know the show had to tackle a massive re-edit after finding out one of its contestants was facing child pornography charges. That’s not something any casting agent or production company could have ever forseen.

So on Sunday night we were fastracked to the first weigh-in within 60 minutes of the show’s launch. By Monday night, one couple -Allan and Romi- were cut already. By the end of the episode we were already at weigh-in number two. As Hayley Lewis told us, another week had already passed. Wow. If only we could lose weight that fast.

But they were not the only problems.

A challenge that saw contestants digging in the sand for a boat had to proceed minus two contestants “for health reasons.” Wait a minute. Isn’t the whole idea of the show to exercise? If they’re not up to the physical requirements -and I don’t for a minute doubt they aren’t- then why were they cast on the show?

Does this get back to why Michelle Bridges recently told a newspaper she feared producers were going too far?

Then at the final weigh-in one contestant was absent having been hospitalised. But why?

All these loose threads make for an unsatisfying start to the new season. Hayley Lewis, meanwhile, is already slipping into Ajay-speak too. Why is she telling us what we already know?

43 Responses

  1. And what I want to know is, why is a prerecorded show go overtime (again!)…
    It is a worry for BL that it’s off to this rough start, but usually it takes a couple of weeks before it gets any good anyway

  3. Agree entirely David. All these editing changes have made me lose interest in the Biggest Loser show (when I normally love the show). I hope it gets back to normal soon (after the controversial couple leave I assume).

  4. I have been a viewer of BL, since day 1 – and likewise found the first episodes confusing and strangely truncated. The trainers, the teams, the aliiances seemed to be in place, and yet the viewer had no scenes to actually clock that. I know that from year to year producers adapt the model, and as with Idol auditions some years they cut to the chase quicker than others,

    But with a weight loss program and already selected contestants, it is strange that the rhythm has already been chopped about. Normally, there is a blow by blow of every step!

    As for Hayley, I like her – she didn;t talk herself up on 7pm Project last week. I think she is a lovely presence. 4 years of AJ’s clunky routines got a little old. Time will tell if the producers let Hayley find her own style. The tyranny of format will probably work against her.

    As usual some great human stories to get the viewer in – this one is.

  5. Sure it’s a tough job to cut two contestants out but one would hope they’d hire editors who are up to the task. I think they’ve done a good job given the circumstances, the problem isn’t in the editing. If contestants are being taken to hospital and failing to complete challenges, it shows a lack of experience or understanding in people planning those challenges….if a person is so unfit they can’t complete a challenge then those planning people have failed in their jobs to create entertaining television.

  6. I thought having Hayley Lewis as presenter would bring a fresh voice to the show. But she appears to be as tightly scripted as Ajay was, which does not do justice to the talents of either of them. Surely Hayley could be let off the leash and allowed to speak naturally, so that she can display the empathy she surely has with the participants.

    And teams…did I miss something? I did hear mention of teams, but no voice over to fill in how they were selected and who is in them. Yes, the editing out of participants would have been difficult, but some more voice overs to fill in the gaps created by not using footage of those participants would have helped with continuity. How difficult would that have been?

  7. Meh….missed last night…was exercising! I’m sure it’ll be fine from tonight. It’s not the first time contestants have missed sessions/challenges because they were too unfit. I cringed when that bloke was lying down on Sunday night after walking about 400m!!

  8. Must agree with David – I understand the need for the editing, but people being in hospital and missing challenges has a big impact on the game – if for some reason they can’t show it (for example, the couple being in the middle of the shot when it is being explained) then surely they could explain it through a voiceover, or through captions, or have one of the other contestants talk about it, or Hayley explain. I understand the need to cut out workouts – it’s very hard to edit that stuff together as people are all over the place. I can understand the team formation being cut out too – but again, couldn’t they explain, have one or both of the trainers explain the makeup of the teams?

    But missing these vital moments and leaving the viewers confused as hell just isn’t making good tv. Again – I understand the difficulty, but there are many other techniques that could be used to fill in the gaps. They need to look outside the box rather than going “Oh no, we can’t use that footage, so just ignore that incident completely”. They are shooting themselves in the foot here – every person I have spoken to is confused as hell – and many of them didn’t know the reasons for the editing – which surely could have been explained before the first ep…(not going into huge detail but just making it clear that a couple had to be edited out because of court proceedings)

  9. As we know from previous seasons there are normally 25 contestant narrations of the one event. Surely they could have used one of those to explain what happened with the injured or ill contestants. Even if the light blue team was there, their faces could be blurred out.

  10. I don’t think TEN is happy about the situation either; clearly due tot he lack of elimination after this weigh in, this would have been where the child pornographer was eliminated. So we will probably be back to normal, but I do agree; TEN are making the best of a terrible situation and cannot be happy to have lost two weeks of the show.

    Although they might have explained why the old dude was missing at the weigh-in.

  11. Brent it would be horrendous to edit an entire couple out, and I have acknowledged this. But it doesn’t explain why people are cast who appear to be medically unable to participate in challenges, nor why stories such as a person being taken to hospital are out too. In a show that combines journeys of its characters as part of the storytelling, I don’t think it’s adequate to just say “so and so is in hospital so he’s not here to weigh in.” We’re investing in characters, it felt very incomplete.

  12. I’m so glad I made the commitment this year to not tune in after having watched all 4 seasons avidly – I’m saving myself at least 5 hours of my life each week. Same for Dance. All these reality shows are getting tired, and yet American Idol and Survivor are as brilliant as ever. With so much TV choice these days, I’ve finally learned to be a bit cut-throat and not bother with mediocrity.

  14. They also didn’t show how the eliminated pair are doing now and how much weight they have lost. It is very poor editing. Is there a blue and red team yet? Hopefully it will resume to normal now.

  15. Tried to watch the show again because i am one that needs to lose weight but the whole thing just does my head in and gets me angry and after watching the first episode of this season, i know now that i have every right to. The show is ridiculous.

  16. There seems to be alot of people complaining over the editing out of the person charged. While the editing was dodgy, I’m sure the other person in that couple is happy they won’t be associated with the alleged on national tv.

  17. According to a source of mine at Ten, the 1st 2 weeks were condesed into 2 episodes and it goes back to normal tonight (how acurate this is, im not sure). This editing was necassary and i feel for ten who have lost 2 weeks of the show because of this. I expect suprise contestants and even more than 1 contestant re-enter the game towards the end to strech it out and gain back the 2 weeks

  19. Hearing inspirational stories about people we know nothing about was also a little strange. I agree re: Hayley already slipping into Ajay speak. Hayley could learn a thing or too from Alison Sweeney (host of the US Biggest Loser) – she is great.

  20. While I agree that the first two ‘weeks’ have been cut short, I’m assume that we get back to real time from tonight. All will be forgotten by the end of the season.

  24. so weird tonight again! i was like what the hell is going on, we have watched 2.5 hrs of the show and already seen 2 weeks and 2 weighins, the last chance training session was like 40 seconds of footage, we havnt seen a training session yet, we havnt seen teams selected yet. They have lost the plot, talk about shocking editing.

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