Former Atlanta trainer Dolvett Quince is the only remaining trainer from the last season of "The Biggest Loser," when winner Rachel Frederickson was pilloried for looking too skinny.
The show has always had its critics, that it shows unrealistic weight loss for the average viewer since people on the show get to spend six hours a day working out. Plus, it appears many people will do anything to lose weight for the $2500,000 prize, not necessarily for health.
Star trainer Jillian Michaels yet again left the show earlier this year and was clearly not pleased with how she was portrayed or how Frederickson looked during the finale. (Bob Harper, in the meantime, is working in a second-chance camp set up for folks on the show who are booted.)
I spoke with Quince by phone for five minutes last week in advance of the return of the NBC show, now in its 16th season.
Quince, who trained Frederickson, defended her and is comfortable with the way "The Biggest Loser" works. She has since regained 20 of those pounds.
"You don't understand why she looked the way she did," he said. "She did check out health wise. We have doctors who check them out. We have a system. We are good with follow through. We're sticking to our guns."
This year is focused on 20 former athletes, including a WNBA player, two NFL players, an Olympic softball player and a pro tennis player.
"These people are far away from their glory days," Quince said. "They want to get back to their glory days. I think they once saw working out as part of their job. After their careers were over, they didn't have to listen to anybody anymore. They didn't have to push their bodies anymore."
But they kept eating like they were still burning thousands of calories a day. "They redirected their lives and neglected themselves," he said.
The good thing about athletes is they've been there before so Quince hopes to harness their past competitive spirits into losing weight. And he grew up with some of the bigger names like NFL players Scott Mitchell (who picked Dolvett as his trainer) and Damien Woody (on Jessie's team) and Zina Garrison, a top 10 pro tennis player in the early 1990s. (She was eliminated in the first hour after collapsing just five feet from the target going up a hill of sandy beach. She needed an IV. Good news: she gets a second chance with Harper but then gets cut there as well.)
Quince, who is currently in the middle of production, said he has enjoyed competing with two new trainers Jessie Pavelka and Jennifer Widerstrom. "It's refreshing," he said. "They bring new energy. They're a perfect fit to fill Bob and Jillian's shoes."
He said he's grateful now to be the veteran. "It's awesome, brother. I've come a long way," Quince said. "It's been a long road. I'm now the senior in high school!"
And he has no immediate plans to step away. "As long as the show wants to have me, I'm here," he said. "I love what I do."
Quince is now an L.A. guy thanks to the show but he hopes to be back in Atlanta for the Christmas holidays. "I'm busy, brother!"
TV preview
"The Biggest Loser," Thursdays, 8 p.m. NBC
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