‘The Biggest Loser’ season 17 will not have Alison Sweeney as host

For the first time in more than ten seasons, there is a big change happening in the hosting position for “The Biggest Loser”: Alison Sweeney is not going to be back as host for season 17. The show confirmed the news in a brief statement earlier in the day to “Access Hollywood”:

“After an incredible run together, Alison Sweeney will not be returning as host of The Biggest Loser next season.”

Sweeney has been with the show in one way or another since the fourth year of it being on the air, and has become in some ways an iconic presence for it.

However, at the same time the show is in a place where they have to try to figure out some sort of way to either re-brand or add a new spark to the proceedings. The ratings were down significantly for this past season, but we think that it was more the result of a bad twist (the whole bringing-on-former-athletes thing) than just the format itself. We think that there is still some viability with the idea of the show, but they need to get back to casting real people who are easy to relate to, and not either D-list celebrities or people who are all from a singular walk of life like athletics. The more you mix things up, and the better off you are probably going to be once you make it to the end.

We’ll have more news on the next season as we hear more.