During the team switch on the recently-concluded season of The Biggest Loser: Couples, there was this moment when Jillian Michaels and contestant Filipe Fa had a big argument--when she refused to give him a one-on-one workout when he was suddenly assigned to her.  Turns out, there's so much more than that.

Michaels now revealed that the flare-up actually resulted in an internal investigation from producers, after Fa alleged that the trainer was giving people drugs in order to help them lose more weight.


"Filipe said, 'I think Jillian is giving people drugs,'" she told TV Guide Magazine.  "We had an entire 'Kenneth Starr' investigation.  Because the minute someone makes that claim, you have to. T hey didn't shut down production, but it took a week. I was so furious, so disgusted.  I felt so betrayed."

What we only saw on screen was her refusal to train him.  "Filipe didn't want to train with me," she said.  "When he said, 'You didn't train me,' I said, 'You're damn right I didn't train you!'  I literally couldn't speak to him."

On the other hand, Fa--who eventually lost 135 pounds throughout his run on the show, a little less than his brother Sione--denied that there was an allegation.  "We had some issues, obviously, with us switching teams," he said.  "There was never an accusation about her giving drugs."

But the show's executive producer, Mark Koops, had an opposing take.  "The accusation came from Filipe," he said, adding that he heard it through the camera crews that followed the contestants during their stay at the ranch.  He then informed everyone that the show was bringing in a team of investigators "to make sure nothing untoward was happening."

Koops insisted that no drugs are given to any contestant, except for multivitamins and caffeine pills to help them through the day.  Those pills, he added, are dispensed by medical professionals, rather than the trainers themselves.  Also, all contestants are required to take blood and urine tests at some points in the competition, but only to make sure they remain fit while they lose weight.

All's well that ends well, however: Fa said everything was smoothed out with Michaels before he got voted out of the show.  Michaels, on the other hand, thinks it made her a tougher trainer.  "It wouldn't bother me at all [if it happened again,]" she said.

So, what was that all about?  Was it a case of jealousy, or of frustration, or of something else?  I think the facts speak for themselves, but I leave it to you, as always.




-Henrik Batallones, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: TV Guide Magazine
(Image courtesy of NBC)