''The Biggest Loser'' is a British

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

show that began airing on

Sky Living Sky Living was a British pay television channel owned and operated by Sky. The channel's programming was aimed mainly at women and young adults. It originally launched as UK Living in 1993 and closed 25 years later, being replaced by Sky Witness. ...

from 2005 to 2006, before moving to

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

in 2009 and finished in 2012. Most recently hosted by

Davina McCall Davina Lucy Pascale McCall (born 16 October 1967) is an English television presenter. She was the presenter of the reality show ''Big Brother (UK), Big Brother'' during its run on Channel 4 between 2000 and 2010. She also hosted Channel 4's '' ...

, the show is a spin-off of the American reality television show of the same name. The show originally featured

Angie Dowds ''The Biggest Loser'' is a British reality television show that began airing on Sky Living from 2005 to 2006, before moving to ITV in 2009 and finished in 2012. Most recently hosted by Davina McCall, the show is a spin-off of the American reali ...

and Mark Bailey as the personal trainers, with Richard Callender replacing Bailey from

series 3 Series 3 may refer to: * 3 Skypephone Series, the mobile phone series * Apple Watch Series 3, smart watch * Aston Martin Lagonda Series 3, the automobile model * Aston Martin V8 Series 3, the automobile model * BMW 3 Series, the automobile model li ...

. After Dowds died in 2011, she was replaced by Charlotte Ord and Rob "The Killer" Edmond for the fifth series. The first two series of the show were hosted by

Vicki Butler-Henderson Victoria Jemma Butler-Henderson (born 16 February 1972) is a British racing driver, former presenter of ''Top Gear'' and current presenter of ''Fifth Gear''. Biography Butler-Henderson was born into a racing family. Her grandfather used to race ...

Living TV Sky Witness is a British pay television channel owned and operated by Sky, a division of Comcast. The channel primarily broadcasts drama shows from the United States, aimed at the 18–45 age group. An Italian version of Sky Witness, named Sky ...

, the third series was hosted by

Kate Garraway Kathryn Mary Draper Garraway (born 4 May 1967) is an English broadcaster and journalist. In the 1990s, Garraway was a journalist for ITV News Central and later a co-presenter of ITV News Meridian. From 2000 to 2010, she co-presented GMTV. Curr ...

and

began presenting the show in its fourth series on

. In September 2012, it was announced that the show would be cancelled, with no further series planned.

Format

The basic format of the show is that overweight contestants compete to win a cash prize by losing the highest percentage of their starting body weight. In its first two series, it was an individual competition, even though the contestants train together in teams, and immunity from elimination is initially based on team competitions. The red team was trained by Angie Dowds, who used a hard no-nonsense approach. The blue team was trained by Mark Bailey, who trained with a more nurturing approach. In the first two series, the winner received £25,000 in cash, the third series winnings was reduced to £10,000 but was reverted to the £25,000 cash prize as of the fourth series. The third series changed to the new 'couples' format, where 8 pairs of friends, relatives or colleagues started together for the first 5 weeks, before they got split up into a 'black team', trained by Angie Dowds, and a 'blue team', trained by Richard Callender, and started competing against each other, similar to the first two series.

Series overview

Locations

The first few weeks of the competition are recorded at Stanford Hall (aka The Biggest Loser House). For one week, all of the contestants travel to the USA. The final was pre-recorded at

The London Studios The London Studios (also known as The South Bank Studios, The London Television Centre, ITV Tower, Kent House and LWT Tower) in Lambeth, Central London was a television studio complex owned by ITV plc and originally built for London Weekend Te ...

in 2011 and

The Maidstone Studios The Maidstone Studios, formerly called TVS Television Centre, is the UK's largest independent television studio complex, and is based at Vinters Park in Maidstone, Kent, UK. It has been home to a varied selection of independent British televisi ...

in 2012.

References

External links

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"Article from Hull and East Riding"
at Hull and East Riding Article about the new show. {{DEFAULTSORT:Biggest Loser (British TV series) 2000s British reality television series 2005 British television series debuts 2010s British reality television series 2012 British television series endings British television series based on American television series British television series revived after cancellation ITV game shows Sky Living original programming English-language television shows Television series by Banijay Television shows set in England UK Obesity in the United Kingdom