Dolvett Quince, Jessie Pavelka & Jennifer Widerstrom – The Biggest Loser

By starrymag | September 9, 2014

Q) I’m wondering since these are former people, former athletes, were any of you familiar with your contestants before the show?

Dolvett: I was familiar with Damien Woody in terms of being a Super Bowl champion and also Zina Garrison. I remember my dad used to be a really big fan of hers. Outside of that there weren’t any other familiar faces for me.

Jennifer: Yes it was the same for me. I knew Zina just because, I mean she’s just a legend in her right. And you do not want to see me with a tennis racquet. But I certainly knew who she was.

Jessie: I would agree with all that. I knew who Damien Woody was due to the Super Bowl. I played football. So it was kind of one those things where you can’t help but love the sport after you’ve played it and continued to kind of stay connected to it. But Zina Garrison, as well. I love tennis. I think tennis players are some of the best athletes, and I definitely knew about her.

Q) Jennifer and Jessie, how familiar did you become with your contestants? How much did you personally get to know them?

Jennifer: It’s interesting. We’re only about halfway through filming, and I feel like I’ve known these guys for a decade. This is such a day in, day out process. And I think that if you don’t go the distance with them emotionally and really take the time to connect with them, really working with them from the inside out, you kind of miss the point of the show. And that’s why I feel like we can forego that, too. We deeply connect to all of their stories and what lights them up and what they struggle with to help them with their journey.

Jessie: Yes. I would have to agree with Jennifer. The cool thing is, is yes we do dive into kind of their core to figure out what the root of the problem is. And yes we do put them through their paces through the exercise. And it is exciting. And we take them to some scary places. And we go to those places with them. But at the same time there is still so much farther to go, which is exciting. We’re halfway through this program, this process right now. And there are still things that are surfacing. And it just kind of goes to show you how much has been caked on over the years over the decades and how much effort really goes into making these changes.

Q) Dolvett, how did the Glory Days premise work compared to the previous seasons? What does it bring to the show?

Dolvett: Well it brings a unique playing field because in the past we’ve had former athletes. But it was just maybe one or two of a group of 15 to 20. This season everyone’s an athlete in their right. So the uniqueness of that is that mentally these people were acclimated to compete. So you put them in a setting where they are, they have to go back to being the physical, the muscle memory, but more importantly the state of mind, is much athletic comparatively. So that’s been our experience so far. It’s been my experience.

Q) It’s more competitive, that’s what you’re saying?

Dolvett: Yes. It’s definitely more competitive because these guys are accustomed to being competitive. Although a lot of time has passed but again, that was their job,  to compete and to win. And they’ll tap into that athlete. And once you turn that light switch back on, look out. You know what I mean? They’re going to make it happen

Q) One thing I was curious to ask you about is if the sort of the difficult feelings that go along with extreme weight gain like maybe a sense of shame or a sense of guilt. Have you found that those sort of feelings among the competitors it may be amplified with a group of athletes because they may be used to perform at a much higher level than other contestants that were athletes?

Jennifer: it’s pretty difficult for any person to feel that they’re in a place in their lives where they feel like they’re successful, they’re happy, and they’re kind of getting it right. And to fall off that horse, it’s tough for anyone. And to your point, to be at that level of competitiveness, athleticism, and to that fitness level, and to come off that? I agree, there is a deeper sense of not just loss of the ability to do that, but there’s a loss of who you are. Because a lot of what we’ve experienced with these contestants this season is that their identity was to be the star athlete. Their identity was to be the best at their game. And what we’re teaching them and what they’re finding is the identity of who they are. And to help them let go of the shame of no you may not be an Olympian any more, but you’re this incredible human being who wants to be a parent or this or that. And I think that’s what’s unique about what the three of us are trying to do right now is yes, there’s a sense of shame. I think you’ve said it perfectly that it is shame. But it’s teaching them to kind of let the shame move past them and to take the steps towards the kind of future and the people that they want to be.

Jessie: I would have to agree with Jennifer on that. I think it is kind of like these guys all have their game. Their game ended. And now it’s kind of the game of life. And it’s one that they, that they didn’t know very well. It’s one that was a bit too much for them. And now they’re learning how to kind of live it and live it in a way that’s healthy, live it in a way that serves them. Because it is a loss. At the end of the day, we all experience loss. It’s kind of how we deal with that loss that really kind of says who we are. They lost themselves as athletes. And now they’re trying to find themselves as human beings. And that’s kind of the cool part of this, the theme of this season. And what goes on with these guys is they’re rediscovering who they are or discovering who they are for the first time. They’ve always been know as the athlete.

Q) Scott Mitchell, is on the show. And I was curious, when you look back on Scott’s involvement on the show and you’re working with him, what sticks out to you about the role that he played with the other people and just his experience with losing weight?

Dolvett: I think Scott is a natural leader in terms of just being in a group setting. I think that is just in him, and you see that. I think most quarterbacks have that in them. They’re like, look, I’ll put the team on my back so to speak. So he has that asset. In addition to that, he has focus. He has determination. And you say well Dolvett, if he had those things then he probably wouldn’t be on the show. Subjective point sometimes after 14 years and not being the lead,  life gets in the way. And you just really stop taking care of yourself. You put him, though, a guy like Scott, in an environment where he has to step up and that’s exactly what he’s going to do. And you’re going to see that. You’re going to see a guy who steps up. You’re going to see a guy who is willing to step up emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually. So you’re going to see the layers of a great human being on the program that’s coming to you.

Q) Could I get your reactions to Vanessa Hayden, who is from Orlando? How did she approach the challenge?

Dolvett: Vanessa is brilliant. She’s a great personality. I can’t wait for you guys to get to know her. And you guys are going to get to know her. And she has a very unique story. So it’s going to be fun to watch her progress. You’ll see. I don’t want to say too much. Can you tell by my answer? It’s going to be great.

Jennifer: Tacking onto that, Dolvett. She’s emotionally in. She’s got a great story. She’s got a cool vibe. And she works hard. And I think we know that combination in a person, it makes her very intriguing to want to work with.

Q) Dolvett, I’m hoping you can take us back to the end of Season 15 and talk to us about what happened with Rachel. As you know, there is a lot of concern and criticism about her weight, and I’d love to hear your take on all of that.

Dovett: Yes there was a lot of criticism, unfortunately. But like the competitors this season, Rachel was a competitor herself. She was a swimmer and almost an Olympian swimmer. So you put her in an environment where she wanted and needed to compete, she competed. And the sad thing was that she got all this bad flack when the reality is that medically she checked out. Everything was fine with her. And she just competed as hard as she competed. And she got some slack because of that, but she’s great. She’s absolutely great.

Q) When you say medically she checked out, are you saying that she was at a healthy weight when she showed up at the finale?

Dolvett: I’m saying that according to the doctor she didn’t go up as extreme as the media said it was. I’m saying that she checked out healthy. She was healthy.

Q) What steps are being taken to make sure that somebody doesn’t go too far with the competition? Now that you have a whole team of athletes, how do you prevent that from happening and maybe to an even greater extreme?

Dolvett: I don’t think we’re doing anything greater than we’ve done past seasons. We have a great medical staff. We have dieticians. We have the trainers. Everyone, they have a great support system. And we’re just going to continue doing it, supporting the cast as we move forward so no major changes, other than we’re really just going back to what we know, which is taking care of these people and making sure that they lose weight.

Q) Dolvett, with having all elite athletes this season, does that force you to change up your training style at all from what we’ve seen in the past?

Dolvett: A little bit. I think what happens with me is, it’s always a test. That first day, you go there and you see what they can give you. But quickly I assess, wait a second, this person has a little bit more than I’m accustomed to. Then you give them a little bit more. So yes you’ll see more. You’ll see more squats. You’ll definitely see a little bit more creative movements in the gym because again, to Jennifer’s point, to Jessie’s point, these guys go after it, and they go after it very quickly compared to other seasons.

Q) Jessie and Jennifer, what was your training approach and style is going to be compared to what we’ve seen from other trainers in the past?

Jessie: For me it’s not one size fits all. I think you have to look at the individual. And you have to kind of cater a program to their needs. This whole program, this whole process one person changes faster than the other. And you have to continuously challenge the individual to get the numbers that are necessary to stay in the, this challenge, in this program. So you have to kind of look at it from an individual standpoint. What does this person need? Does this person need to start running now because they’ve been walking for X amount? It’s – at the end of the day it’s just you have to look at the individual. And that also goes with food and nutrition as well. Because everybody’s different. Everybody’s body reacts differently to different types of food and different types of exercise. It’s not a one-size fits all with me.

Jennifer: Yes. And I think from my point of view there’s two sides to every coin, and there’s, this is no different than that. There are two places I come from with my training. One is truly from the inside out. You’ve got to find out what lights each person up, what makes them smile, what creates a challenge for them, what inspires them, what they enjoy, what are they not comfortable doing.

Dolvett: And start to patch this program together, right? And a part of this, too, was creating, creating that sense of empowerment, training them things that are measureable. Do a workout and then a month later I think one of the things that she said to me that stands out in my mind. I’m in the business to build. And when I heard her say that, it defined who she was to me, and what she would do training people. Jessie is your southern guy who truly loves helping people, and being there and being a great listener. I mean, here’s a guy, who’s a dad who has an automatic empathy attached to his heart. And so when he comes to someone and speaks to them, he speaks mostly as a friend, and someone you can trust. His style is great. Because I think he’s honestly a mesh of both Jennifer and I. He does the CrossFit stuff, and he does some of the floor stuff that I do. And metrics stuff in addition to it. So he is a hybrid of both sides in that regard. So, you guys are really like going to like him this season. Trust me. You’re really going to like him.

Q) Jessie and Jennifer, what made you want to be part of the phenomenon of The Biggest Loser?

Jennifer: I think for me it comes down to the fact that we want to change lives. We want to help people. We want to help people live out their best lives. And we use the conduit of fitness to do so. Each of us, that are training, were trainers before the show. And I think if we weren’t on the show, we would still be training right alongside our other fitness and wellness peers. So, what this allows is the opportunity to teach and mentor the best way we know how, and we do it in a platform that allows us to cast a very wide net, to touch people’s lives-the stories of these amazing contestants. And so, that’s why for me, I took the step in. I was willing to go the distance. Because I was like, you know what? If this is the platform of which I can use to really make a big difference, like the imprint on the planet, then to me, I’m going to go for it.

Jessie: I would have to agree with Jennifer. I think when you become a trainer you dive into these people’s lives. You help people one on one. And then you kind of-you do it and it’s like, okay, how can do more? How can I help more? And this show-and I’ve done shows in the past, but not anywhere close to this kind of caliber. It gives you an opportunity to do what you do for the masses, and make some massive change in the world. Not just for that individual. And that’s exciting. We keep saying it, this is the Super Bowl of weight loss. This is the Super Bowl of fitness. Every single trainer in the world, wants to be on the Biggest Loser. And while yes, an obvious yes, I want to be on that, I’ll do it. At the same time, there’s so many other parts of it that make it rewarding, rather than the fact that it’s The Biggest Loser. The fact that we get to work with these people, and do our job on the day to day. And not just help people lose weight, but help people, kind of, rediscover themselves and live again. That’s the part that was like, yes. I will do this. So, it’s, in a lot of ways, I have to agree with just about everything Jennifer said, it was-it gives us an opportunity to do what we love most and do it in a big way.

Q) What is your favorite song you listen to when you’re working out?

Dolvett: They know I’m a hip hop junkie, so. Anything Eminem’s doing, anything Jay Z’s doing, anything Drake is doing and I am good to go.

Jennifer: I’m moody, man. I don’t know. It depends on the day when I wake up. Sometimes it’s like, sometimes it’s like Depeche Mode. It just depends on the day. Like I’m very eclectic, but you can’t really go wrong with 90’s rock. I always love that, beside me when I work out.

Jessie: I’m kind of like Jennifer. I think it just depends on what type of exercise you’re doing. I think exercise needs to be kind of an emotional experience, in some ways, for me at least. So if I’m going for a hike, I’ll put on something like Sieger Ross or Hammock. And just have a real experience when I hike. Now, if I’m in the gym and I’m going at it, and I’m kicking my own A-S-S. I’ll put on some rock and roll and I’ll dive into it. And that could be 90’s grunge, or that could be gosh, The National, that’s a band I love. The National song “Bloodbuzz.” I like that one.

Q) Can you tell us a little about Rondalee Beardslee and Andrea Wilamowski that are both from Michigan? And then our Lion’s connection with Scott Mitchell and Damien Woody?

Jennifer: I’m from Chicago. You’ve got people that know how, I feel like the grit to these people, like our Michigan crew. They understand hard work and they’re not afraid to face it. I call it, call it the Midwestern winters. But these guys all show such fight in work outs and the only one that would allow them-like, that no one is going to get in their way, of their, of their workout, of their goal, of their mindset.

Dolvett: Michigan has definitively been a staple on this show for many seasons. You mentioned Jeremy, and former contestants from the past. The new Michigan crew didn’t disappoint Michigan. I think you guys are going to definitely see the major changes a la Biggest Loser. And you’re going to have some hometown favorites, guaranteed.

Q) Jessie, what is the difference between the U.K. and the U.S. contestants? Do they do things a little differently over there?

Jessie: the job I did in the U.K. was, I was dealing with people who could barely get off the couch. What we’re dealing with here is former athletes. But yes, it is really different in the fact that they’re starting point is totally different. Rather than getting these guys to tie their shoes, I’m able to put them right into a fairly, a fairly intense session. So, in that way it’s different. Now, as far as the solutions and how I work with them getting to the core of the problem, that’s the same. Because that doesn’t change per person. These guys are overweight for a reason. And it’s not just because they shut down. We’ve got to figure out, “Okay, why is food an issue with you? Why are you feeling this way?” So, the solutions are the same, starting points are different.

 

*CONFERENCE CALL*