“The Biggest Loser” host Bob Harper has weighed in on his former colleague Jillian Michaels’ recent comments about musician Lizzo’s body.
“The bottomline is this: It’s none of my business to make an observation of her or anyone unless [they’re] asking for my advice or opinion,” Harper told TheWrap on Saturday at the Television Critics Association press tour. “All I know about Lizzo is I never met the woman, I love her music, and I know she can play a mean flute.”
“If you come up to me at the airport or the grocery store, which people do all the time, and go like this, ‘Bob, what do I need to eat today?’ — I’m gonna tell you all day long,” he added. “But if you’re, like, minding your own business at the grocery store with your little buggy and you’ve got, I dunno, frozen pizzas — it is none of my business what you’re doing.”
Michaels came under fire Wednesday on social media after appearing on Buzzfeed’s “AM to DM” show, where she suggested that Lizzo’s body positivity wasn’t a thing to be celebrated.
“Why are we celebrating her body? Why does it matter? Why aren’t we celebrating her music? ‘Cause it isn’t going to be awesome if she gets diabetes,” Michaels said at the time. “I’m just being honest. I love her music, my kid loves her music, but there’s never a moment when I’m like, ‘I’m so glad she’s overweight.’ Why do I even care? Why is it my job to care about her weight?”
Michaels’ critics accused her of body-shaming the pop star and weighing in on her health without facts to back up the assertion that Lizzo could be at risk for diabetes.
“As I’ve stated repeatedly, we are all beautiful, worthy, and equally deserving,” Michaels tweeted out later the same day. “I also feels strongly that we love ourselves enough to acknowledge there are serious health consequences that come with obesity – heart disease, diabetes, cancer to name only a few. I would never wish these for ANYONE and I would hope we prioritize our health because we LOVE ourselves and our bodes.”
In addition to her work on the original “Biggest Loser,” Michaels hosted a short-lived spinoff series “Losing It With Jillian” in 2010.
Harper graduated from being a coach on NBC’s old version of “The Biggest Loser” to hosting USA’s reboot, which premieres later this year. The trainers are newcomers Erica Lugo and Steve Cook.