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The Biggest Loser returns to the couples format for its 11th season, which begins tomorrow at 8...
The Biggest Loser returns to the couples format for its 11th season, which begins tomorrow at 8.30pm on FOUR. Photo by Mediaworks.
Bob Harper isn't going anywhere. Season 11 of The Biggest Loser starts tomorrow with the biggest twist the weight-loss show has ever seen: Contestants must choose between working out with Harper and Jillian Michaels or with two unknown trainers.

Why would anyone choose the latter?

Because it comes with four weeks' immunity from elimination - the most valuable prize the show has to offer short of the $US250,000 ($NZ300,000) payday awaiting the contestant who loses the largest percentage of his or her body weight.

The introduction of the two new trainers - Brett Hoebel, who is the creator of RevAbs, a workout and diet plan that tones the body in 90 days, and Cara Castronuova, a two-time Golden Gloves champion - comes shortly after Michaels announced that this season will be her last.

Which raises the question: What about Bob?

"People keep coming up to me and asking, 'What are you doing next?' and 'When are you leaving?' And my response is, 'I'm not going anywhere. There's still plenty of work to do here, folks'," Harper said.

Contestants this season include Arthur Wornum (34), a stay-at-home dad who is the unhealthiest contestant ever. The 173cm Wornum weighs 230kg, and that's after losing nearly 65kg on his own.

His body fat ratio dwarfs that of Season 9 winner Michael Ventrella, who was the single heaviest contestant at 239kg but stood over 183cm tall.

Harper says Wornum represents a segment of the population that viewers haven't seen before - someone who is so morbidly obese he's nearly housebound.

"Here's a guy who, even if he loses 100 pounds, still has 200 more pounds to go," Harper said.

"So how do I keep someone like that motivated and focused ... when they have such a long road ahead of them?"

This season will also see its most famous competitor yet: Olympic Gold medallist Rulon Gardner, who piled on the kilos after retiring from competitive wrestling.

"I still can't believe what I did to myself," Gardner said recently.

Harper said audiences would especially identify with Gardner: He followed a strict diet-and-exercise regimen for much of his career, but it was ultimately unsustainable, much like the overly strict diet that many people adopt as they resolve to lose weight.

Don't do it, Harper warned.

Instead, wake up each day and resolve to simply make better food choices and find ways to "move around more", he said.

"If you trust in that process, and just focus on what you can do today, the rest will take care of itself."

Executive producer JD Roth said he was not concerned about the trainer shake-up. He said that while Bob and Jillian attained first-name-only, rock-star status among the show's fans, the "real" stars were the contestants who bared their souls and mirrored the struggles of many people trying to lose weight.

Harper said that he too was curious about how the two trainers would work out.

"The worst thing they could do is come in and try to do what Jillian does. Audiences won't go for that." The trainers needed to usher in their own style.

"We can't have screaming for the sake of screaming."

Michaels said that while she would always be indebted to The Biggest Loser, she needed a break from the show that has consumed her life since 2005, and wants to focus on adoption and motherhood.

Harper, however, said he felt like he was just getting started, and joked about signing on through Season 30.

In fact, it's not at all unusual to find him swinging by the ranch outside Los Angeles on a Saturday - even though it's a non-shooting day, and technically his day off - just to check in on the players.

"It just never gets old for me," Harper said.

Season 11 of the The Biggest Loser premieres Wednesday at 8.30pm on FOUR.

 

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