"Biggest Loser" champion Rachel Frederickson said Wednesday she was proud of losing nearly 60 percent of her body weight on the show and that she's healthier than ever, despite concerns that she dropped too much weight too quickly.
Frederickson lost 155 pounds, going from 260 pounds to 105 by the end of the series in January.
Urgent: Do You Approve Or Disapprove of President Obama's Job Performance? Vote Now in Urgent Poll
"You know, I did work so hard for the finale and finding myself again,"
she told "Today" host Savannah Guthrie. "I felt amazing on the stage. I felt like I shined in my dress. Then I got off the stage, and Twitter was all abuzz."
Frederickson's stunning weight loss brought widespread buzz on social media, even from former "Biggest Loser" runner up Kim Nielsen on Twitter.
Frederickson told "Today" that while she may have been "a little too enthusiastic" about winning the competition, she did it in a healthy way and was stunned by viewers' negative reactions to her weight loss.
"I was (surprised), because I felt proud of everything I'd accomplished," she said to "Today." "My journey was my own, and I loved it; I lived it. So, I felt really proud of what I did."
Frederickson, 24, was born and raised in St. Paul, Minn. and was a high school swimming champion landing several scholarship offers,
according to the "Biggest Loser" website.
After high school, she moved to Germany. She gained more than 100 pounds over the next six years after a failed relationship.
She won the competition's grand prize of $250,000 after losing 59.62 percent of her total body weight, an all-time record for the reality show.
Editor's Note: Do You Support Obamacare? Vote in Urgent National Poll
Related Stories:
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.