Where Is ‘The Biggest Loser’ Doctor Robert Huizenga Now?

Celebrity doctor Dr. Robert Huizenga is a familiar face for fans of The Biggest Loser.

Although he appeared as a medical consultant on the NBC show from 2004 to 2016, he has since expressed concerns over some of the physical challenges pushing contestants too far. In the Netflix docuseries Fit for TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser, Huizenga explained that he “really took issue” with the intensity of physical challenges for people who may not have been fit enough.

“There were times, unfortunately though, that challenges were done that I didn’t see or hear about, which was the main hang-up to making it a much safer environment,” Huizenga said.

In addition to working on The Biggest Loser, Huizenga has also consulted on high-profile cases — including O.J. Simpson’s murder trial — and worked with celebrities like Charlie Sheen, Pamela Anderson and Sylvester Stallone, according to his biography on Spotlight Agency.

Here’s everything to know about where Dr. Robert Huizenga is now and what he’s said since leaving The Biggest Loser.

Who is Dr. Robert Huizenga?

Robert Huizenga, who also goes by “Dr. H,” is a doctor, physician, author and media personality. He originally grew up in Rochester, N.Y., and went to the University of Michigan for undergrad and later Harvard Medical School to study immunology, per his LinkedIn. After doing his medical residency at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, he stayed in Los Angeles and became a team physician for the Los Angeles Raiders in the 1980s.

He worked with the Raiders for eight years and spent four years as president of the NFL Physicians Society before turning his efforts to literature. In 1994, he wrote a book about his time as the Raiders physician and the underlying health issues of athletes titled You’re Okay, It’s Just a Bruise. The book was later partially adapted for the 1999 Oliver Stone movie Any Given Sunday, with Matthew Modine playing a character based on Huizenga.

After leaving the Raiders, Huizenga continued advocating for professional athletes and researching brain injuries before transitioning his efforts towards health, weight loss and infectious diseases. He went on to write Where Did All the Fat Go? The Wow! in 2008 and Sex, Lies and STDs in 2018.

In 2013, he founded the Clinic by Dr. Robert Huizenga, “an evidence-based medical approach — beginning with two weeks in a luxury boot camp castle — to attack the deadly triad of excess fat/insufficient muscle, inadequate fitness and poor diet,” per his LinkedIn. However, it has seemingly since closed.

While many fans may recognize Huizenga from The Biggest Loser, according to his bio, he’s also appeared on several other shows, including Extreme Makeover, Nightline, Larry King Live and The Dr. Oz Show.

“My primary job is taking care of my patients,” he told STAT in 2015. “But once I put my patients to bed, and they’re taken care of, I turn to my hobby. I’ve always been fascinated by the media. That’s what I have fun doing.”

What has Dr. Huizenga said about his time on The Biggest Loser?

While the contestants and many of the coaches changed over the years on The Biggest Loser, Huizenga remained a constant on the competition series as a celebrity doctor and medical consultant. He previously explained that he enjoyed being a part of the show because of the platform.

“I love being a doctor,” he told STAT. “You’re making a change, one person at a time. But … you can say something on Biggest Loser, which deals with weight loss, and have literally millions of people listening to you. I really am drawn to that.”

However, Huizenga also aired his concerns nearly 10 years after the NBC reality series concluded. He was interviewed as part of the Netflix three-part docuseries Fit for TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser, which premiered Aug. 15, and spoke about how the Raiders initially prepared him for the show.

“The Biggest Loser was totally sculpted after my experience with the Raiders and the only question was is it possible for an overweight, sedentary person to work out, not with the ability of a professional athlete, but with the intensity of a professional athlete?” he shared.

Huizenga explained that the intensity he was used to with professional athletes caused him to become worried about the physical challenges the overweight contestants endured.

“We had a 99.9% success [rate] in losing weight. That was really an incredible discovery,” Huizenga recalled. “But as the show really got popular, some things were being done that I really, I really took issue with.”

“It was scary because from season 1, you have women — 200 lbs., men — 300, and it just went up, straight line up. And with that, the ability to exercise, a straight line down. So when they do a physical challenge that puts people in harm’s way, that’s where I have to step in,” he said.

Huizenga also alluded to having different perspectives with the show’s trainers, Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels, over their approaches to weight loss.

“Every season, I pretty much said I was going to quit unless I got to talk to the trainers,” he claimed. “So they would force them to come in and I’d give my little half an hour speech and maybe some things changed, not as much as I would like.”

How is he connected to O.J. Simpson?

Before Huizenga appeared on The Biggest Loser, he was in the headlines for being a medical expert in the criminal and civil O.J. Simpson trial. Simpson, who died in April 2024, was famously on trial for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, though he was acquitted of the criminal charges.

Huizenga was Simpson’s physician at the time and was called to the stand by Simpson’s defense lawyer, Robert Shapiro, in July 1995. Shapiro initially brought Simpson to Huizenga shortly after the murders to examine him. After testing Simpson for several drugs and steroids, Huizenga testified that they all came back negative.

During the trial, Huizenga testified that Simpson had the strength to kill his ex-wife but also expressed doubt over Simpson’s injuries — including a limp. However, 10 years after Simpson was found not guilty in criminal court, Huizenga stood by Simpson’s innocence. (In a later civil trial, Simpson was found liable for Nicole and Goldman’s deaths.)

“My take, and what I say now, is that Simpson was innocent in the trial,” Huizenga told Fox News in 2015. “That doesn’t mean he did or didn’t do it. Let’s face it, the evidence is completely suspicious. Some guilty people are set free.”

Why did he work with Charlie Sheen?

In 2015, Charlie Sheen revealed that he was HIV positive while sitting alongside Huizenga, his personal physician, in an appearance on the Today show. During the interview, Huizenga explained that he had known Sheen for years and began treating him for HIV after the actor tested positive for the virus four years prior.

“My biggest concern with Charlie as a patient is substance abuse and depression from the disease, more than what the HIV virus could do in terms of shortening his life, because it’s not going to,” Huizenga said at the time.

In addition to their joint appearance, Sheen and Huizenga wrote an “open letter” about the diagnosis. Sheen wrote that Huizenga was “brilliant” and had helped him begin a “rigorous and intensive treatment program.”

“Not missing a beat, a med dose, or one shred of guidance, quickly my viral loads became undetectable,” Sheen wrote at the time. “Like every other challenge in my life, again, I was victorious and kicking this disease’s ass. I wish my story had ended there. Unfortunately, for my family and myself, it had only just begun.”

Huizenga also wrote about the experience and explained how Sheen was “immediately placed on four antiretroviral drugs” after his HIV test changed from negative to positive. He wrote that Sheen had “tolerated his antiretroviral cocktail and by faithfully complying with the daily pills, his viral HIV load has remained consistently undetectable.”

“I anticipate Charlie can save many more lives coming forward with his revelation than I could ever have aspired to as a doctor,” Huizenga wrote. “With Charlie remaining dedicated to his treatment regimen, I expect the HIV will only minimally — if at all — affect his predicted life expectancy.”

Where is Dr. Robert Huizenga now?

In addition to working as a personal physician, Huizenga has continued appearing on television shows, talking about health and fitness at speaking events and sharing his health opinions on social media.

Huizenga frequently posts about the health effects athletes face, weight loss methods and medications and the importance of maintaining a fit lifestyle.

As for his personal life, Huizenga is a father, grandfather and dad to a dog and pet pig. While he resides in Los Angeles, he travels abroad and shares his international travel adventures on social media.