The Biggest Loser is about to return for its 17th season on NBC. During its lengthy run, the show has seen some crew members change over, and recently we learned longtime host Alison Sweeney has departed the reality competition series. This morning, NBC finally announced the person who will replace her as host. He’s none other than personal trainer Bob Harper!
Fans of the show have seen a lot of Bob, who has been a trainer on the US version of The Biggest Loser since 2004. In addition, the personal fitness guru has also been a part of the Australian version of the show in the past. Since Harper has been a part of The Biggest Loser since Season 1, he’s seen all of the ins and outs on the show and should be a good fit for the gig—not to mention, hosting should be a nice changeup for a guy that has essentially had the same TV job for the last decade.
In a statement, Harper notes that the weigh-in room will see some changes when Season 17 hits the schedule.
I've been with the show since season one so I know all of the ins and outs, and let me tell you, the weigh-in room is going to be a completely different ballgame with me at the steering wheel.
It’s kind-of nice that NBC has found a host in-house, rather than bringing in some random individual from the streets. At this point, The Biggest Loser is a pretty well-oiled machine over at NBC and those who have continued to tune in are presumably looking for familiarity over new people and concepts. Thus, signing on Harper in this new capacity should theoretically work out great.
Harper is taking the gig during a time when the reality competition series has seen a downturn in the ratings. After 16 seasons, The Biggest Loser isn’t exactly a new concept, and the last couple of seasons have been less popular in overall viewership than prior seasons. Still, while The Biggest Loser has always been a staple for NBC, it has been known for being a middling performer and NBC has no plans to cut the show from the schedule anytime soon.
Since The Biggest Loser dropped down to only one season a year a couple of seasons ago, we’ve traditionally seen the competition series premiere in the fall. This time around, however, NBC says production won’t even start until this month, meaning the show is not currently on the fall TV schedule, at all. We’ll let you know when the show will be returning as soon as the network makes the announcement. In the meantime, you can find out what is coming out this fall with our handy premiere schedule.
Photo courtesy of NBC.
