‘The Biggest Loser’ season 15: First look at Ruben Studdard, new cast

“The Biggest Loser” returns to NBC with new episodes starting up on Tuesday, October 8 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time, and we would be completely insane to sit here and say that all of these contestants are just as recognizable as the American Idol winner. You’ve probably never heard of any of these people before save for Ruben Studdard, at least unless you are related to one of them.

We’ve been checking out some reactions to Studdard’s casting via the often angry monster that is the internet, and there is clearly one critique that keeps unfairly popping up time and time again of the former “American Idol” champion: He’s famous, so why does he need to be here over anyone else? We see there being a number of different answers to that question.

1. There may be other cast members here richer than he is, and remember that the season 2 star is hardly putting out platinum albums these days. He’s never had the career of a Kelly Clarkson. Even if you do have money, there may be other habits or reasons (such as your schedule) as to why being able to lose weight doesn’t happen.

2. People will know him already, and that’s great for bringing in as large of an audience as possible to the show.

3. At 462 pounds, Ruben is easily the heaviest guy on the show at the start, and he clearly needs the help.

4. When the dust settles, there is no obligation for any contestant to keep him around. If they feel like he does not deserve to be there for whatever reason, they can try to target him for elimination. Therefore, it’s silly to whine about this at all.

In the end, we’re legitimately pulling for Ruben to go far, and he’s a reason why we are somewhat interested in this season, which we may not otherwise be given the amount of quality TV coming on Tuesday nights.

If you want to read some more news related to “The Biggest Loser’s” return to TV, just be sure to visit the link here.

Photo: NBC