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Jillian Michaels (born February 18, 1974) is an American personal trainer, businesswoman, author and television personality from Los Angeles, California. Michaels is best known for her appearances on NBC, particularly as a trainer on The Biggest Loser.

Early life[]

Michaels was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of JoAnn, a psychotherapist, and Douglas McKarus, a lawyer. She was raised in Santa Monica. Michaels has recalled a traumatic childhood that included night terrors, her parents' divorce, and suffering verbal abuse by classmates as a 5-foot, 2-inch, 175-pound eighth-grader.

Michaels attended California State University, Northridge, supporting herself as a bartender and personal trainer during that time. After working briefly as an agent with International Creative Management, in 2002, Michaels opened the sports medicine facility Sky Sport & Spa in Beverly Hills.

Career[]

As a personal trainer and black belt holder, Jillian Michaels uses a blend of strength training techniques with her clients including kickboxing, yoga, Pilates, plyometrics, and weight training. Since 1993, Jillian has held four personal training certificates from the National Exercise & Sports Trainers Association NESTA and The Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA), CanFitPro and she is Kettlebell Concepts certified. Jillian has also developed a continuing education series for trainers with AFAA and holds a nutrition and wellness consultant certificate with the American Fitness Professionals and Associates (AFPA).

In January 2012, Michaels released a 90-day weight loss program titled "Body Revolution". She launched BODYSHRED, her 30-minute workout class exclusively at GoodLife gyms in Canada and in the US with clubs like Lifetime fitness, Crunch and UFC Gyms. In 2015, she launched her new infomercial BODYSHRED, a 60-day at-home workout program. Michaels' business partner and manager is Giancarlo Chersich. Together, they operate Empowered Media, LLC.

Media[]

"The Jillian Michaels My Fitness" app is one of the top fitness apps globally and has won awards from both Apple and Google for best of in health and fitness app category. Michaels has also released 20 fitness DVD's that have sold over 100 million copies worldwide. Michaels has also authored 9 books on health and wellness topics with 8 NY Times Best Sellers New York Times Best Seller list.

Michaels hosted a Sunday talk radio show on Los Angeles's KFI (640 AM) from 2006 through 2009. Since February 2011, Michaels has hosted a weekly podcast, "The Jillian Michaels Show", through iTunes. In December 2011, the show was among the podcasts honored by Apple in its App Store Rewind 2011, winning in the Best New Audio Podcast category.

On October 21, 2008, she launched a video game for the Wii, "Jillian Michaels' Fitness Ultimatum 2009". A year later, she launched a sequel called "Fitness Ultimatum 2010". In 2011, Michaels released two more games, "Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2011" and "Jillian Michaels Fitness Adventure" for the Xbox 360.

Jillian launched her company Empowered Media LLC in 2008 and released her fitness video membership website called Fitfusion.com, often referred to as the Netflix of fitness, featuring top fitness and yoga trainers and celebrities including Dashama, Tara Stiles, Cassey Ho, Crunch Fitness, Jennifer Nicole Lee, Tone It Up, Zuzka Light, and others. Fitfusion is also associated and broadcasts on AT&T U-verse, BroadbandTV Corp, Bell TV Canada, and other TV channels, as well as Roku, Apple TV, and Fitness on Demand reaching audiences in Marriott, Hilton Worldwide and Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts.

The Biggest Loser[]

Michaels was an original trainer on the reality series The Biggest Loser when the show debuted in October 2004. On the show, she assumed the role of Red Team trainer and remained in that capacity for the first two seasons. After her departure in 2006, she was replaced by Kim Lyons. She returned to the show in 2007 as the Black Team trainer competing against Lyons' Red Team and Bob Harper's Blue Team. Along with Harper, Michaels was also a trainer in the Australian version of the show from 2006 to 2008.

On December 7, 2010, Michaels announced via Twitter that the eleventh season of the show would be her last. Michaels made her last appearance on The Biggest Loser on May 24, 2011.

On September 4, 2012, it was announced that Michaels will return to The Biggest Loser in Season 14. Michaels also returned for Season 15, which premiered on October 15, 2013 on NBC, but did not return for Season 16 which aired in the fall of 2014.

Losing It With Jillian[]

On June 1, 2010, NBC debuted Losing It With Jillian, a spin-off of The Biggest Loser. In the show, Michaels visits the home and workplaces of family members for a week.

Losing It With Jillian originally ran on NBC in June and July 2010. As of January 2012, all eight episodes of the series are available for viewing online.

Contract with CBS[]

On May 6, 2011, CBS Television Distribution announced that Michaels had signed a multi-year deal to become a co-host of the panel-discussion show The Doctors, as well as to serve as a special correspondent on the CTD program Dr. Phil. Michaels had been a guest on The Doctors several times previously. On the show, Michaels hosted a recurring segment called "Ask Jillian", which dealt primarily with nutrition and diet topics.

Michaels left The Doctors in January 2012 after half a season, because, she claimed, the arrangement "wasn't the fit both the show and I hoped for".

Personal life[]

Michaels has two children with her ex-fiancée Heidi Rhoades. Michaels adopted their then-two-year-old daughter, Lukensia, from Haiti in May 2012, and Rhoades gave birth to a son, Phoenix, that same month. On her sexuality, Michaels has stated, "Let's just say I believe in healthy love. If I fall in love with a woman, that's awesome. If I fall in love with a man, that's awesome. As long as you fall in love...it's like organic food. I only eat healthy food, and I only want healthy love!" The couple announced the end of their relationship in June 2.

She also credits Madonna's "Justify My Love" video with helping her find her voice.

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