Jillian Michaels Slams ‘Egregious’ Claims in ‘The Biggest Loser’ Documentary

Jillian Michaels is speaking out about how she’s portrayed in Netflix’s new tell-all documentary about The Biggest Loser. 

On Tuesday, August 19, the fitness trainer, 51, posted on Instagram and denied some of the claims made about her in Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser, which covers the weight loss competition show’s alleged missteps and features new behind-the-scenes details about some of the decisions made by its cast, crew and showrunners during its 18-season run.

In the three-episode docuseries, Dr. Robert Huizenga, The Biggest Loser’s medical advisor, discussed feeling uncomfortable with the show’s extreme methods for weight loss and claimed Michaels often ignored his medical advice. 

In her post, Michaels — who did not participate in the documentary — refuted allegations made that she went against the show’s rules and gave contestants caffeine supplements without a doctor’s permission. She accused Huizenga and fellow trainer Bob Harper of lying about not approving the use of the pills.

She went on to post screenshots of emails from 2009 that appear to show conversations between the show’s trainers and producers coordinating to provide caffeine supplements to contestants.

“Here is an email chain with @bobharper – the Biggest Loser’s producers – @drhuizenga‘s guy, Sandy Krum, who stayed on set with us and distributed the fat burners about which ‘fat burners’ / caffeine pills to purchase the contestants,” she wrote. “This is one email of many that shows: Dr. Huizenga did approve caffeine pills on many seasons of Biggest Loser. Bob Harper not only knew about the caffeine pills the ‘stackers fat burner’ were actually his suggestion. I wanted to use my brand instead because they were cleaner and had no more than 200mg of caffeine (equivalent to a strong cup of coffee). Caffeine was NEVER banned on The Biggest Loser.”

She added, “Wild how some folks still lie like it’s 1985 before texts and email were a thing.”

In a separate Instagram post, Michaels also denied another claim by Huizenga that trainers restricted contestants from eating enough calories, including posting another screenshot where she’s telling a contestant via email to eat 1,600 calories per day. She also posted alleged emails between her and producers discussing how to keep contestants “adequately nourished.”

Following her social media posts, Michaels told TMZ in a phone interview, which was published online, that she is considering filing a lawsuit. She said the docuseries is “so egregious and so damaging that I don’t think I have a choice.”

PEOPLE reached out to Netflix and Dr. Huizenga about Michaels’ comments but did not receive an immediate response.

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Michaels was on The Biggest Loser when it premiered in 2004, starring as the coach of the Red Team and competing against Harper’s Blue Team. She worked on the show on and off for 10 years, before leaving for good in 2014. The series continued to air on NBC until 2016, before briefly returning for one season on the USA Network in 2020. 

The reality competition challenged contestants to lose weight through diet and exercise, awarding a hefty monetary prize of $250,000 to the person who lost the most weight.

Although Michaels was not featured in Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser, which premiered on Friday, Aug. 15, she has spoken openly about her time on The Biggest Loser and her life since leaving the hit show.