Controversial fitness queen Michelle Bridges clears the record

Michelle Bridges is arguably the most controversial woman in the fitness world. 

Best known for her role on the once-hit show The Biggest Loser, the 47-year-old is relentless and savvy, having turned her passion for exercise into a $53 million empire. 

In her campaign to make Australia healthy, those that have followed Bridges’ advice have lost more than 1.5 million kilograms in fat - that’s equivalent to the total weight of 20,000 adults. 

With such positive results, why then is Michelle Bridges so controversial?

Bridges says that fighting Australia’s obesity epidemic is one of her personal goals, going on to publicly state, “morbidly obese people aren’t happy.”

Ajay Rochester, former host of The Biggest Loser, has labelled Bridges ‘fat-phobic’ and a ‘fat-shamer.’

It begs the question, is Michelle Bridges out of line in her comments, or simply misunderstood in her personal mission to get Australians moving and eating better?

This Sunday on 60 Minutes, reporter Allison Langdon gets one-on-one with Bridges, to address the controversies surrounding her career and ask the questions Australia wants answered.

The tough talking trainer is renowned for pushing people to their limit – and this Sunday Langdon is in her sights.

It was there she met fitness coach and now partner, Steve ‘Commando’ Willis – yet another controversy to add to her list, after media reports claimed they had an affair while she was still married to her ex-husband and business partner Bill Moore.

Finding love later in life also meant Bridges had all but accepted she wouldn’t have children of her own. Yet incredibly, at 44, she conceived naturally with husband Steve and became a mum to their little boy Axel, now 22-months-old. 

However, this incredible experience of becoming a mother was once again met with harsh criticism, when Bridges credited her fitness as the reason she conceived quickly in her mid-forties.

She also copped flack for working out when she was heavily pregnant and getting back into exercise not long after the birth of her son.

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