Big-Time Drama, Asia-Style

Big-Time Drama, Asia-Style
By Jeffrey Oon
Yahoo! South-East Asia

As TV premieres go, The Biggest Loser Asia pretty much has everything.
Tears, laughter, drama and comedy, weaved in between inspiring and heart-warming tales of hope and heart-break, make for a compelling season-opener.

Tonight’s big kick-off of Asia’s inaugural version of hit weight-loss reality TV show, The Biggest Loser, revolves around the auditions held in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines.
Over 2,000 super-sized hopefuls from all over the region suffer the sweaty ignominy of punishing push-ups and jiggly jumping jacks in the full glare of the TV spotlight.

Their reasons for joining run the gamut from pure hard cash (winner gets US$100,000), fame, love, health, family and repairing major image and self-confidence problems

New Zealand trainer Dave Nuku, who coaches the Blue Team, warns the combustible mix of the intense nature of the show and the fact that the severely obese contestants are away from home, lonely (and often hungry) and living out their vulnerabilities in the full glare of the TV spotlight means only one thing — plenty of drama.

“We’ve had multiple hospital visits, people suffering from hypoglycemic shock and kidney problems, busted knees and ankles, emotional breakdowns, mental collapse, fights between teams. Everyday I come onto the set expecting the unexpected,” says Dave.

“It takes a lot of courage from them to do this and I commend them.”

Watch out also for the fireworks between the Blue and Red Teams.

Australian Kristy Curtis who guides the Red Team, says, “Dave and me are very different. Dave is very reserved, quiet, and laid-back. I’m the opposite and my training is very different from his. We call the Blue Team ‘tree huggers’ because they’re all about hugging, cuddly encouragement and waving their arms while singing ‘Kumbaya’. The Red Team is a little bit more bitchy and our training much more intense, direct and in- your-face.”
Meeee-ooooowww.

And what about the chances of a Singaporean winning the first season of the Biggest Loser Asia?

While the exact lineup of 16 contestants will only be revealed in the second episode, Dave lets on that “two Singaporeans are among the strongest contestants in the show. One set a record for total amount of weight loss in a single week in TBL worldwide.”
Stay tuned.

*Start sharing your views on the show and health, exercise and living right in the Answers categories of Health, Reality Television today.

The Biggest Loser Asia premieres on 24 November on Hallmark Channel.
The Biggest Loser Asia Tour