For weightloss celebs, there is only ever one end to their stories

An April Fools’ Day reflection on this century’s biggest prank, the celebrity weightloss DVD

On April Fool’s Day, let us reflect quickly on this century’s biggest prank, the celebrity weightloss DVD. It was just after Scarlett Moffatt (of Gogglebox and I’m a Celebrity fame) had signed a six-figure contract to star in her first DVD, that a friend told me about one of its conditions. Not only was Moffatt contractually obliged to lose the usual literal wheelbarrow of weight (she went from a size 18 to a size 8 in a matter of months), but for a year after the DVD’s release she had to keep the 3st off and endure regular weigh-ins, or pay back the cash. Though I was well aware of the dark machinations of the weightloss industry, I wasn’t prepared for the starkness of the paperwork.

The sticky story of Moffatt’s DVD is rumbling through the tabloids at the moment as a friend’s (inverted commas) text messages confirm that, rather than losing weight simply through the exercise routines on the tape, she visited a Swiss bootcamp where she was made to train for six hours a day, eating a maximum of 700 calories. After she was branded “fake” over claims the DVD showed an “unrealistic portrayal of how she lost weight” (a jarring accusation for a person whose career is based on her honesty and her humanness), a personal trainer came forward revealing similar stories about Moffatt’s fellow reality stars, Geordie Shore’s Vicky Pattison and Towie’s Lauren Goodger, explaining that it’s standard protocol for him to move in with the reality star for the duration of the project, cooking their food as well as keeping them fit. Both Pattison and Goodger received a lot of money for their DVDs (Pattison is rumoured to have been paid £160,000), and both also visited a series of secret fitness bootcamps, starting starvation diets before filming. All have offered regrets. All have since put on weight.

Continue reading... April 01, 2018 at 03:06PM