‘The Biggest Loser’: New Trainer Erica Lugo Talks Reboot, Losing 160 Pounds, and The Special Guests At Her Wedding
Rebooted, revamped. Whatever you prefer to call it, The Biggest Loser is finally back.
It’s got a new host, Bob Harper, who was a former trainer from the original series, plus two new trainers, Steve Cook and Erica Lugo.
Showbiz Cheat Sheet caught up with Erica Lugo to talk to her about what’s surprised her so far, how she herself lost 160 pounds, and who’s coming to her wedding.
Lugo herself has lost a substantial amount of weight
Erica Lugo has lost 160 pounds on her own. That’s no small feat for anyone, much less for this single mom and thyroid cancer survivor.
When we asked her how she lost that tremendous amount of weight, Lugo replied that it really wasn’t at all mysterious.
“Honestly, I started with the basics. I know everyone seems so taken aback by that. I did no fancy diet, nothing special. I just knew, personally, less calories in, more calories out. That’s how I started. Walking on a treadmill, [which led to] jogging on a treadmill, then running on a treadmill.”
“Then my food choices and nutrition would be, ‘well, let’s just start with cutting down my portions of food that I normally eat. But back then, I was still a relatively not great eater. Pizza, spaghetti, and all that stuff. But I would cut my portions in half, because that’s all I knew how to do.”
So how did she become one of ‘The Biggest Loser’ trainers?
Showbiz Cheat Sheet asked Lugo how she came to land on the reboot of this iconic show. It seems to have happened in a whirlwind of events.
“[The producers] reached out to me a couple of times. The casting people had followed me for quite a while and they would reach out to me on Instagram and through email, and I was like ‘No, I don’t know if I’m made for TV, I don’t know if I could do that.’ And they said, ‘Just go through the process, we want to talk to you about how we’re doing a 360 approach to The Biggest Loser, a brand-new reboot, so that caught my interest.”
“And I went through multiple phone interviews, Skype interviews, I actually got flown out to California, I got put on what they call a ‘chemistry test’ to see how well you do on camera, how well you interact with having all these cameras in front of you. It was more interviews and more interviews and I think it was close to a two-month process…And that’s how I got picked.”
Erica Lugo vs. Jillian Michaels vs. Bob Harper?
When we asked her how she compares her training style to that of former trainers Jillian Michaels or Bob Harper, Lugo showed what she was made of, making certain to correct any idea that she would compare herself to anyone else.
“You know what? I don’t. I don’t compare myself. I get that question all the time. But my attitude is that comparison is the thief of joy. I knew that if I compared myself to any previous trainers, that I would be living up to expectations that are not me.”
What’s surprised Lugo most about the show
We were also wondering what so far, in working with the contestants, had surprised her the most. And she surprised us, by telling us that not only had she and the contestants grown close, but that all of her Red Team contestants would be guests at her upcoming wedding!
Lugo opened up about working with her Red Team contestants.
“The biggest thing is, I did not think how close I would be with these people. When I got the job, I kind of went into it – ‘Ok, this is my job, I’m hired to help these people in more ways than just losing weight, I need to just focus on that end-goal, and that’s it.’ ”
“And then you start building relationships with these people, and you are with them every day for hours a day, and you can’t help but fall in love with them. . . Because they’re just trusting you with their hearts, their souls, and their vulnerability.”
“All of them are invited to my wedding. All of them are coming. We’re family. My team reds are coming, I’ve got red gym shoes under my wedding dress, and they’re all wearing red. They’re excited.”
Catch the premiere of The Biggest Loser tonight at 9:00PM EST on USA!
