Where is Rachel Frederickson now? All about the ‘Biggest Loser’ winner

The Biggest Loser built its reputation on staggering transformations, but none were so shocking as that of Rachel Frederickson’s.

The NBC reality competition, in which the contestant who lost the most weight after a 30-week boot camp won $250,000, ran for 18 seasons between 2004 and 2020.

Frederickson won The Biggest Loser‘s 15th season, losing nearly 60% of her body weight and sparking discussions about the show’s controversial approach to weight loss. Time, for example, wrote that “it’s easy to see that Frederickson looks unhealthy.” Entertainment Weekly listed her transformation as one of reality TV’s most dramatic makeovers.

Frederickson heard the commentary, writing in an essay in Today that she was “extremely proud” of herself while standing onstage at the live finale, but adding that the feeling “didn’t last long,” since “comments during the controversial storm following my weight loss were hurtful.”

That discourse continues to this day, with Netflix having recently dropped Skye Borgman’s documentary Fit for TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser. Many of the series’ most memorable transformations are highlighted and dissected, but not Frederickson’s.

So, how much weight did Frederickson lose? What have the show’s trainers said about her dramatic weight loss? And where is she now? Read on for everything we know about The Biggest Loser winner.

Who is Rachel Frederickson?

Rachel Frederickson was a 24-year-old voice actress living in Los Angeles when she appeared on season 15 of The Biggest Loser, which aired from October 2013 to February 2014. Born in Minnesota, she was a three-time state swimming champion, per Bring Me the News.

In her Today essay, she revealed that her struggles with her weight began after following her high school sweetheart to Germany for college. “It didn’t take long before the voice of a boy I loved started diminishing my self-esteem,” she wrote. “His voice told me I wasn’t enough and I believed it. I started listening to a louder voice than my own, and in turn, I lost the person I loved being.”

Frederick’s struggles with her self-esteem contributed to her weight gain, which was exacerbated by the loneliness of her job as a voiceover actress.

How much weight did Rachel Frederickson lose on The Biggest Loser?

Frederickson was 260 pounds when she competed on The Biggest Loser. By the end of the season, she was 105 pounds. Throughout the 30-week ordeal, she lost 155 pounds — nearly 60% of her initial body weight.

As CNN pointed out at the time, Frederickson’s weight loss — when combined with her height of 5 feet 5 inches — put the contestant’s body mass index (BMI) at 17.5. Per the National Institutes of Health‘s standards, this is considered underweight.

Despite this, Frederickson defended her weight loss and the reality series’ intense approach during post-show interviews.

“It was absolutely healthy weight loss,” she told Today at the time. “I dieted and exercised and did it healthy the whole way. I appreciate all the concern, and I can see where it comes from. There is the ‘movie magic’ — it’s over (the course of) seven months; it’s almost a year of my life losing the weight. I was very unhealthy at 260 pounds and now, post finale, I’m the healthiest, most alive I’ve ever felt.”

What did The Biggest Loser‘s trainers say about Frederickson’s transformation?

Following Frederickson’s win, The Biggest Loser trainer Dolvett Quince addressed the controversy.

“Biggest Loser is a journey which has its ups and downs, he wrote in a Facebook post (per PEOPLE). “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!”

Another Biggest Loser trainer, Jillian Michaels, adopted a different tone when releasing a statement via social media following the finale. Speaking for her and fellow trainer Bob Harper, she wrote (via CNN), “Bob and I want to take a moment to congratulate all of the BL contestants on their hard work. We’re not comfortable commenting on Rachel’s journey because (we) weren’t her trainers and weren’t given an opportunity to work with her at any point. Any questions about the contestants on the Biggest Loser should be directed to the show’s producers.”

In a reply to a user on Twitter who asked if she was concerned about Frederickson’s weight, Michaels said, “We won’t comment because we had nothing to do with it and want no part in shaming someone with ‘public statements.’”

Michaels did, however, address Frederickson’s weight loss in a May 2024 podcast appearance with fitness influencer Thomas DeLauer, describing Frederickson as “unhealthily thin, to say the least” at the season 15 finale.

Later in the episode, she credited that moment with her final departure from the show. “When Rachel Frederickson walked down that stage looking dangerously unhealthy, I quit permanently.”

Harper, too, recently discussed Frederickson’s weight loss. Ahead of Fit for TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser, he spoke with The Guardian about being “horrified” by her weight loss at the finale. He went on to bring up Frederickson’s background as a competitive swimmer. “You talk to any person who’s an athlete. That’s a different breed of person,” Harper said. “And evidently this woman was like, I’m going to win this show and I’m going to do whatever it takes.”

Where is Rachel Frederickson now?

In her 2014 essay for Today, Frederickson said she was continuing to work in voiceover while also taking college classes, volunteering at a local dog shelter, and training for a marathon.

In an April 2014 profile in Us Weekly, she revealed that she’d put on 20 pounds since the February finale, putting her at her “perfect weight” of 125 pounds.

Per her LinkedIn profile, Frederickson went on to work at Whole Foods as a buyer and cake decorator in the bakery department before finishing up a bachelor’s degree in logistics, materials, and supply chain management from the University of Minnesota in 2020. Since then, she has worked as a customer insights and analytics manager for Land O’Lakes.

Where can I watch the Biggest Loser documentary?

Fit for TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser is now streaming on Netflix.

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