Channel Nine's Excess Baggage is to go gut-to-gut with Ten's The Biggest Loser in a 7pm TV weight loss war.
Source: Herald Sun
Trainers from Ten's The Biggest Loser. Picture: Channel Ten
Source: Supplied
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EXCESS Baggage contestants are more likely to achieve long-term weight loss than those on The Biggest Loser.
Channel Nine's Baggage is to go gut-to-gut with Ten's The Biggest Loser in a 7pm TV weight loss war, starting this month, the Herald Sun reported.
Loser, hosted by Hayley Lewis, returns on Monday while Baggage, presented by Kate Ceberano, will start in the same time slot on January 29.
The shows have different formats. Loser's 16 contestants are split into teams of four led through gruelling challenges by their trainers Michelle Bridges, Shannon Ponton, Tiffiny Hall, and Steve Willis.
Baggage pairs eight ordinary Aussies with eight celebrities, including football legend Robert "Dipper" DiPierdomenico, Beaconsfield miner Brant Webb, and the former host of Loser, Ajay Rochester.
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Baggage concentrates on the contestants' emotional as well as physical baggage, with a health team that includes a psychologist, Dr Tim Sharp.
Contestants are guaranteed to lose weight on both shows. Keeping it off is the biggest challenge.
That is where Baggage might have the edge, say the experts.
"A psychologist can clear (emotional) blocks from the past (so) it is much more likely that the weight they lose will stay off," psychologist Dr Janet Hall said.
VicHealth nutrition manager Julie Woods agreed.
"It is a really good step to deal with those underlying issues," she said. "Scientific studies have shown that if you take a multi-pronged approach - diet, exercise and psychology - it results in greater weight loss."
Baggage contestant Lana Pilakis, who is teamed with DiPierdomenico, is a Loser fan but decided to compete on Nine's show because "the solutions would be more long term".
Pilakis has admitted that, at 31, she has never been kissed and "I don't want to end up alone".
She praises Dipper for giving her the confidence to turn her life around.
Loser contestant Michelle Cortesao admits she was bullied in high school because of her weight and has never had a boyfriend.
"I don't feel like I love myself yet," Cortesao said.
vickeryc@heraldsun.com.au