Yesterday my wife and I had the opportunity to be on the Joy Behar Show. We were on with Jillian Michaels, the trainer from The Biggest Loseras well as past contestant Bill Germanakos.
We were excited and a little nervous. Lately there seems to be some controversy going on as to whether or not The Biggest Loser is healthy and if they provide the support that contestants need after leaving the ranch. In the pre-show interview I got the feeling, based on the questions, that they were digging for some dirt. We don’t give that out!
The nervousness come from two things. First, I got blindsided on Oprah last year. I went on the show expecting to talk about all of the great things going on in my life and found out on live television that I was being the example of a past Biggest Loser contestants who hadn’t been successful with their weight loss.
Long story short, we weren’t sure if we were going on Joy’s show to talk about good things or talk about the fact that we aren’t the same weight we were at the finale nearly five years ago. The second reason I was a little nervous was because I hadn’t talked to Jillian since the finale of our season, again, nearly five years ago.
We got to the satellite location and got camera ready. When the show first began we had a live feed so we could see Joy in New York. Then about one minute into the interview the screen went blank and we couldn’t see anything. It was a little like talking to the great and powerful OZ in the Wizard of Oz. We could hear Joy talking but had no idea who she was talking to.
Bill was in studio so he did most of the talking because, as watching the show confirmed, Joy would look at him when asking a question. Most of the interviews we do by satellite the interviewer will address us when asking a question so you know when to talk. This experience taught Suzy and I that when doing an interview via satellite with no live feed, we need to be assertive and make sure that we give ourselves the opportunity to be heard.
As far as having not talked to Jillian in years, I still haven’t. Our piece was rather short and we didn’t get a chance to chat. The cool thing for me was that she commented on how I was obviously still fit considering I finished the Ironman in Kona a couple months ago. It felt good to hear her say that.
To be honest, we have been a part of better interviews but to still be out there and having the opportunity to appear regularly on national television shows that we have done a good job of living our lives the right way. No we aren’t the same weight we were at the finale but we live healthy, active lives and are happy with who we are.
#1 by Karla Galli - January 26th, 2010 at 17:37
that is all that matters! I know that I am proud of yourself and Suzy for achomplishing what so many people need to, after all the effort you put into losing weight and knowing what it is to be heavy and then fit, you know how to keep it up that is the best lesson learned! I am alot like you when you say your 100% either on or off. That is nothing to be ashamed of. I am completly the same way. I realize that I need to be accountable for my own indulgence.