Jillian Michaels | |
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_(cropped).jpg) Michaels in 2025 | |
| Born | Jillian Leigh McKarus (1974-02-18)February 18, 1974 (age 51) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 2004–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Website | jillianmichaels |
Jillian Leigh McKarus (born February 18, 1974), known professionally asJillian Michaels, is an American fitness trainer, nutritionist, businesswoman, media personality, and author.[1] She is best known for her appearances onNBC series such asThe Biggest Loser. She has also made an appearance on the talk showThe Doctors. In 2015, she hosted and co-judged a series onSpike titledSweat, INC. In 2016, her reality television seriesJust Jillian premiered onE!.
Michaels was born Jillian Leigh McKarus[2] inLos Angeles on February 18, 1974,[3] the daughter of psychotherapist JoAnn, and lawyer Douglas McKarus.[4][5][6] Her mother isJewish[7] and her father is ofSyrian descent.[7] She was raised in theTarzana neighborhood of Los Angeles.[3]
Michaels was overweight in her youth, using food to comfort herself, which became more pronounced at age 13 when her parents divorced. Her mother enrolled her inmartial arts classes to help her deal with stress, which inspired her interest in exercise and fitness.[8]
She attendedCalifornia State University, Northridge, supporting herself as a bartender and personal trainer during that time. In 2002, after working briefly as an agent withInternational Creative Management, she opened the sports medicine facility Sky Sport & Spa inBeverly Hills.[3]
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As a personal trainer, Michaels uses a blend of strength training techniques with her clients, includingkickboxing,yoga,Pilates,plyometrics, andweight training.[9] Michaels 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).[10]
Jillian Michaels: The 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.[11] Michaels has also authored 9 books on health and wellness topics with eightNew York Times Best SellersNew York Times Best Seller list.[12][13]
Since February 2011, Michaels has hosted a weeklypodcast,Keeping It Real, throughiTunes. 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.[14] Michaels recently formed a partnership withBill Maher's Club Random to expand her audio podcast "Keeping It Real" to video.[15]Also in the same year, Michaels appeared in a commercial with former race car driverDanica Patrick for the Internet domain websitegodaddy.com forSuper Bowl XLV.[16]
Michaels launched her company, Empowered Media LLC, in 2008 and released her fitness video membership website called Fitfusion.com. Fitfusion is also associated and broadcasts onAT&T U-verse,BroadbandTV Corp,Bell Satellite TV Canada, and other TV channels, as well asRoku,Apple TV, and Fitness OnDemand reaching audiences inMarriott,Hilton Worldwide andShangri-La Hotels and Resorts.[17][18]
In 2025, Michaels co-hostedHer Take, an online talk show with an all-woman cast that includesAna Kasparian andLindy Li. However, in late September Michaels walked off the set and quit the show after getting into a heated debate about Israel,Benjamin Netanyahu and theassassination of Charlie Kirk.[19]
Michaels was a trainer on thereality seriesThe Biggest Loser when the show started 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 byKim Lyons.[20] She returned to the show in 2007 as the Black Team trainer competing against Lyons's Red Team andBob Harper's Blue Team.[21] Along with Harper, Michaels was also a trainer in the Australian version of the show from 2006 to 2008.[22]
On December 7, 2010, Michaels announced viaTwitter that theeleventh season of the show would be her last.[23] Michaels made her last appearance onThe Biggest Loser on May 24, 2011.
On September 4, 2012, it was announced that Michaels would return toThe Biggest Loser in Season 14.[24] 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.[25]
On June 1, 2010,NBC debutedLosing It with Jillian, aspin-off ofThe Biggest Loser. In the show, Michaels visits the homes and workplaces of family members for a week.[26][27]
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.[28]
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 showThe Doctors, as well as to serve as a special correspondent on the CTD programDr. Phil. Michaels had been a guest onThe Doctors several times previously.[29] On the show, Michaels hosted a recurring segment calledAsk Jillian, which dealt primarily with nutrition and diet topics.
Michaels leftThe Doctors in January 2012 after half a season, because, she said, the arrangement "wasn't the fit both the show and I hoped for".[30][31][full citation needed]
Michaels publiclycame out in 2012, but 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 likeorganic food. I only eat healthy food, and I only want healthy love!"[32] She has credited the music video forMadonna's 1990 song "Justify My Love" with helping her acknowledge her sexuality.[33]
Michaels works with a variety of charities including theUNHCR,[34] theNFL's Play 60,[35]Stand Up to Cancer,[36] Working Wardrobes,[37]Hope for Haiti,[38] Sow a Seed, and Dress for Success.[39] She also devotes time to animal welfare causes, and helpedPETA rescue a racehorse from a slaughterhouse in 2012.[40]
From 2009 to 2018, Michaels was in a relationship with Heidi Rhoades.[32] They adopted a two-year-old daughter, Lukensia, fromHaiti in May 2012, while Rhoades gave birth to a son, Phoenix, that same month.[6][41] They became engaged at an unknown date, but announced the end of their relationship in June 2018.[42][43]
In 2018, Michaels began a relationship with fashion designer Deshanna Marie Minuto. They became engaged in November 2021 and married in July 2022.[44][45]
Michaels and Basic Research LLC were sued in a class action suit for false advertising when marketingJillian Michaels Maximum Strength Calorie Control, which claimed to promote weight loss by only taking two pills before a meal.[46][47][48] Basic Research was given the "Most Outrageous" award forQuackwatch's 2010 Slim Chance Awards, which is awarded to "... promoters of weight loss schemes."[46] Michaels was sued multiple times over the diet pills with her name on them. The lawsuits were later dismissed.[49]
In 2016, Michaels labeled President-electDonald Trump's running mateMike Pence "the number oneanti-gay politician in the country right now."[50]
In 2024, Michaels frequently expressed support forRobert F. Kennedy Jr. onhis presidential campaign, praising his views on chronic health.[51] In a reversal of her prior comments regarding Trump, Michaels announced she had voted for him in the2024 presidential election.[52]
In 2025, Michaels appeared on aCNN talk show. During the discussion, she expressed her support for Trump'sexecutive order that ordered the removal of "divisive or partisan narratives" from theSmithsonian. When the news anchor asked her about it, she said, "When you make every single exhibit about whiteimperialism, when it isn’t relevant at all, that is a problem." Her response caused heated reactions on the talk show andsocial media, with some accusing her of downplayingwhite supremacy and others supporting her, like conservative commentatorMegyn Kelly, who said that Michaels is "awesome".[53]
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