Celebrity Fit Club

Synopsis

Yes, yes, we all know that the 11th letter of the title should be something else but let's be honest - it's the only concession to the celebrities' dignity on this whole series.

This was a format that evolved from Fat Club, a documentary featuring eight members of the public being cajoled and bullied into losing weight. It is now law in England and Wales that all programmes have to have a celebrity version, which subsequently appeared with the aforementioned change of vowel. The first series was still very much in the documentary mode, with quite unsatisfying reveals and you often had to tune into the next week's programme to see how they did.

However, they really got hold of the second series and turned it into more of a Light Entertainment event, hence its listing on this site. Now the celebs had a proper dramatic weigh in before the panel of their three experts, judges and mentors. They were also playing as a team, so if they let themselves down they also let the team down. The results were signified by a rather wacky pair of giant scales that all eight celebrities sat on.

Of course, the real entertainment comes in along the way. There's arguments, disagreements, people threatening to quit, laughter, tears, disappointment, success... all the elements of a typical reality show. The key battle is between Harvey Waldon IV, a tough no-nonsense US marine trainer who tends to favour the stick rather than the carrot. He has a sense of humour, but it is so dry it ought not to go too close to the North Sea, lest it soak it up.

Many of the participants relapse when out of the glare of Harvey - for example 'winner' (or should that be 'biggest loser'?) of series 1, Jonathan Coleman came back for a 2nd try. That said, the results over a relatively short time are dramatic and it contains more laughs than nearly any modern day BBC sitcom you'd care to mention.

Participants

2002

• Jonathan Coleman (presenter)
• Nicola Duffett (actress)
• Ian McCaskill (weatherman)
• Coleen Nolan (singer)
• Kay Purcell (actress)
• Rik Waller (Pop Idol contestant)
• Tommy Walsh (Ground Force)
• Ann Widdecombe (politician)

2004

• Jonathan Coleman (presenter)
• Vanessa Feltz (presenter)
• John Forgeham (actor)
• Alison Hammond (Big Brother contestant)
• Amy Lamé (comedian)
• Freddie Starr (comedian)
• Lowri Turner (presenter)
• James Whitaker (royal correspondent)

2005

• Tina Baker (TV critic)
• Lizzy Bardsley (Wife Swap contestant)
• Andy Fordham (darts player)
• Julie Goodyear (actress)
• Kym Mazelle (singer)
• Ken Morley (actor)
• Paul Ross (presenter)
• Aldo Zilli (chef)

2006

• Anne Diamond (presenter)
• Mikyla Dodd (actress)
• Bobby George (darts player)
• Russell Grant (astrologer)
• Carole Malone (journalist)
• Sharon Marshall (TV expert from This Morning)
• Mick Quinn (ex-football player)
• Jeff Rudom (actor)

Catchphrases

"Pop up on the scales for me"

"I'll see you here next week and... EAT, DON'T CHEAT!"

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