,” a show he calls “the O.G. fitness reality series.” But in 2017 he suffered a major heart attack that had him rethinking his approach to exercise. So when he received a call from the producers of the new, USA version of “,” he had questions about what their approach would be, given the way fitness is discussed has evolved in the few years since the show went off the air.
The support group plays very prominently into each episode, which means the traditional “Biggest Loser” format has been tweaked pretty significantly from its first go-round. Additionally,, the contestant who goes home each week is the one who loses the lowest percentage of weight loss, not someone voted out by his or her team.
“We have a contestant on the show that really went through a lot of struggles with his mother, who was dealing with drug an alcohol addiction,” Harper previews.
When Harper considers why contestants opened up to him, he says it’s because he has “always been an inquisitive person and, working in the health industry for as long as I have, I’ve gotten to where I know the questions to ask and feeling it out.” He feels the most important thing is to “let that room breathe” and give everyone “the opportunity to say whatever it is they’re feeling.