NEED TO KNOW
Rachel Frederickson won season 15 by losing 155 lbs.
Her final weigh-in was met with backlash after she revealed she was down to 105 lbs.
Since winning the competition reality series, Frederickson has stayed out of the spotlight
Rachel Frederickson was crowned The Biggest Loser in 2014 — but whether her path to victory was healthy has remained a source of debate.
The NBC show, which ran from 2004 to 2020, challenged contestants in a competition to lose the greatest percentage of their starting weight over 30 weeks, with the winner taking home $250,000.
Some of the show’s methods drew criticism, such as restricting contestants to an 800-calorie diet and requiring them to work out for up to eight hours a day.
In August 2025, Netflix revisited the series with Fit for TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser, a three-part documentary that spotlighted the many controversies surrounding its 18-season run, including Frederickson’s 155-lbs. weight loss. Her dramatic transformation sparked headlines at the time, with many viewers expressing concern that she appeared underweight.
“When I stood on stage at the live finale, I had never felt stronger,” she penned in a December 2014 essay for Today. “I had accomplished everything I wanted to do. I was extremely proud of myself. That moment didn’t last long.”
She recalled how difficult it was to read “comments during the controversial storm” that followed her win, adding, “People tried to bring me down and (privately) succeeded.”
So, what happened to Rachel Frederickson? Here’s everything to know about The Biggest Loser winner and where she is now.
Who is Rachel Frederickson?
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Rachel Frederickson appears on NBC News’ “Today” show
Frederickson, a Minnesota native, weighed 260 lbs. when she joined season 15 of The Biggest Loser. She said she gained the weight after moving to Germany with a foreign exchange student she met in high school.
“Fast forward to a lonely, overweight girl,” the reality TV star wrote in her Today essay. “I spent most days alone working from my home vocal studio. A job I loved, but loneliness I hated. I made a decision to start fighting for myself again.”
Prior to appearing on The Biggest Loser, Frederickson was a three-time state swimming champion, according to Bring Me The News.
What happened to Rachel Frederickson on The Biggest Loser?
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Rachel Frederickson on ‘The Biggest Loser’
Frederickson won The Biggest Loser season 15 after she lost 155 lbs. — 59% of her former weight. She took home the winning title and the $250,000 prize.
In Fit for TV, trainer Bob Harper said that he and fellow trainer Jillian Michaels were “in horror” when Frederickson weighed in at 105 lbs.
“Rachel came out, and she had lost so much weight, it was … shocking,” Harper told Fit for TV filmmakers.
Though she didn’t appear in the documentary, Michaels echoed similar thoughts during a May 2024 podcast appearance.
“She was unhealthily thin, to say the least,” she told host Thomas DeLauer, adding later in the interview that Frederickson’s transformation prompted her to quit the show. “When Rachel Frederickson walked down that stage looking dangerously unhealthy, I quit permanently.”
What did Rachel Frederickson say after winning The Biggest Loser?
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Rachel Frederickson on ‘The Biggest Loser’
When Frederickson was crowned The Biggest Loser in 2014, she had nothing but positive things to say about her results. “I just love myself and I am embracing it,” she told PEOPLE at the time.
Later in her Today essay, she said she was committed to trusting her decisions and listening to her voice instead of other people’s opinions.
“2014 has been a year full of learning, changing and growing for me,” she wrote. “There will always be other voices in life. The trouble comes when you stop listening to your own … I found strength in this struggle and I am listening to my own voice again!”
Her trainer, Dolvett Quince, also wrote a Facebook message in response to the backlash.
“Last night’s Biggest Loser Finale has sparked a huge reaction and I do not want the day to end without addressing it,” he wrote. “Biggest Loser is a journey which has its ups and downs. Please try not to look at one slice of Rachel’s journey and come to broad conclusions. Rachel’s health is and always has been my main concern and her journey to good health has not yet ended!”
NBC and The Biggest Loser’s production company, Shine America, also supported Frederickson’s transformation at the time. In a statement, the companies maintained that they were “committed to helping contestants achieve healthy weight loss and live healthier lifestyles, and to inspiring viewers to do the same.”
Where is Rachel Frederickson now?
Peter Kramer/NBC/NBC Newswire/NBCUniversal via Getty
Rachel Frederickson appears on NBC News’ “Today” show.
After winning The Biggest Loser, Frederickson continued to work as a voice-over actress. In her Today essay, she wrote that she was taking college classes, volunteering at a local shelter, training for her first marathon and starting a new career at a job search website.
According to Frederickson’s LinkedIn profile, she kept voice acting until opening up a T-shirt business in 2015. The former Biggest Loser contestant earned her bachelor’s degree in logistics, materials and supply chain management from the University of Minnesota in 2020 and has worked as a customer insights and analytics manager for Land O’Lakes since.
Read the original article on People
