News

‘The Biggest Loser’ Host Confesses to Gaining Back Weight After Emotionally Binge Eating

In Touch Staff

Published

on

Ajay rochester weight gain
Getty Images

At her thinnest, Ajay Rochester — the host of The Biggest Loser in Australia — weighed a trim 130 pounds while she was hosting the program from 2006 to 2009.

Since then, she has struggled with her weight constantly fluctuating and recently confessed she now weighs more than 200 pounds, as emotional binge eating has caused her to pack on the pounds.

ajay rochester

Ajay in 2007 (left) vs. late 2013.

“I have battled an eating disorder my entire life. Some times I have overcome it. Other times, it raged on for months, even years, at a time,” she writes on her personal blog, ‘Finding My Mojo.’

“I’m a classic emotional binge eater and have spent the last six months stress eating over my autistic son’s legal and schooling issues, I am now back over 200 pounds.”

While the 45-year-old admits she needs to lose weight if she ever wants to return to TV, she’s sharing her story as part of her #DropThePlus campaign, which hopes to drop the label of “plus-size” — and eliminate the stigma that is associated with models who don’t necessarily fit into the industry’s standard.

ajay rochester

Ajay says she has experienced discrimination at every size — which is why she feels the need for the labeling and hatred to end.

“I have been every size imaginable…if you looked in my closet, you would think that five different women live in my house due to the different clothing ranges,” she writes. “I had a fashion designer say to my face during an interview (when I was 130 pounds) that in model terms, I was a size 500.”

ajay rochester

She goes on to speak out against the show she hosted for several years, saying ‘The Biggest Loser’ wasn’t the empowering program she thought it was — and instead producers cared more about contestants looking thin than being healthy or projecting a positive image.

And now she’s on a mission to promote equality and a healthy body image for people of all sizes.

ajay rochester

“The whole debate about #DropThePlus is so that in the future we WILL see all sizes represented, talent will be seen for what it is, not what size it fits and people like me will not spend a life being hated or shamed for never fitting the cookie-cutter mold no matter what size we are,” she says.

“There are the haters online who either say I am too fat or not fat enough to have an opinion on this debate. That is absurd and hateful. The longer we segregate our sizes the more we reinforce the idea that one size is better than the other.”

Trending News

Celeb Kids3 days ago

‘RHOC’ Star Jennifer Pedranti Admits Her Son Started California Fire: ‘Tough Learning Moment’

TV News5 days ago

‘Big Brother’ Season 28 Contestant Replaced by Alternate Just Days Before Premiere

Exclusive3 days ago

Christina Applegate Facing the ‘Fight of Her Life’ Amid MS Battle: She’s in ‘Physical Agony’ Every Day

Politics5 days ago

Lisa Rinna Claims Senator Mitch McConnell Is ‘Dead’: ‘Keeping Him Alive Like Weekend at Bernie’s’

True Crime3 days ago

Upcoming Scott Peterson Documentary Explores New Evidence That Could Overturn His Conviction

Reality TV3 days ago

‘Little People, Big World’ Alum Jacob Roloff Doesn’t ‘Regret’ TLC Show Despite Traumatic Exit

Royals3 days ago

Prince Harry ‘Genuinely Believed’ Archie and Lilibet Would Impact Security Fight: ‘It Changed Nothing’

Celebrity News3 days ago

Rachael Ray Fans Concerned After Viewers Say She Looks ‘Unrecognizable’ in New Video

PARENTING3 days ago

Kristin Cavallari Explains Why She Flies First Class While Her Three Children Sit in Coach

Celeb Kids2 days ago

Chet Hanks Reveals Why He Felt ‘Worthless’ Growing Up as Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson’s Son

Celebrity News4 days ago

Dylan Wolf, 24, Breaks Silence on Kissing Bunnie Xo, 46: ‘Sometimes a Cowboy Wants to Hunt Cougars’

Barrett Pfeiffer, Yash Patel and Drew Campbell stand on stage for 'Big Brother 28' Barrett Pfeiffer, Yash Patel and Drew Campbell stand on stage for 'Big Brother 28'
Entertainment3 days ago

‘Big Brother 28’: Yash Patel Was on TV Before With His Family