UPDATED: 'Biggest Loser' issues a marathon apology for misleading viewers

It was an inspiring finish to this week's two-part episode of NBC's "The Biggest Loser": Dane, who lost 100 pounds in just eight weeks before being eliminated from the weight-loss competition, is seen running a marathon alongside his fit-and-trim wife and crossing the finish line in what appears to be an eye-popping time of three hours and 53 minutes.

Only it didn't happen. Dane got himself an assist to the finish line courtesy of a field producer. UPDATED: Here's the statement Dane released late Friday:

"I always intended to run the full marathon. At the 17th mile, I knew I would not make it in time to cross the finish line before it closed at 6 hours, so I then received a ride from the field producer, who wanted to show me crossing the finish line. He drove me for three miles, and then I ran the rest of the way. After all the filming was done I went back and finished the last 3 miles later that day with my wife and cousin Blaine. I apologize for stating that I ran the entire marathon before I actually ran the whole 26 miles. I am proud of the feat of just running 26 miles in one day."

Here's the statement issued earlier in the day by Reveille, one of the show's producers:

As the Executive Producers of The Biggest Loser we would like to make an official apology and set the record straight with regards to the claim in last nights episode that Dane completed a marathon in Arizona.

After seeing on various online blogs that this information may be inaccurate we investigated the claim and found that Dane had not indeed completed the marathon unaided. From our internal investigation we learned that Dane ran the first 17 miles before receiving a ride from the field producer for 3 miles before rejoining the race at the 20 mile mark whereupon he completed the race.

We are incredibly proud of Dane for running 23 miles and losing over 130 lbs on his weight loss journey so far and wish him luck as he continues his new healthy lifestyle. We have also taken the necessary action to ensure that there is no future misrepresentations and sincerely apologize for misleading our loyal viewers and it was certainly not our intent but an unwitting mistake.

We hope they will continue to be inspired and motivated by all of our contestants and follow them as they continue to change their lives.

Here's NBC's statement:

In the final segment of last night's episode of “The Biggest Loser,” which updated viewers on the status of an eliminated contestant, the former contestant was shown running a marathon in his home state of Arizona. NBC today learned that the contestant did not, in fact, run the entire marathon as depicted in the segment. Because the segment as aired was contrary to NBC policy, we are working with the program producers to determine how this occurred, and to ensure that corrective action is taken.

Sources close to the production said this is what happened:

Dane was eliminated on Thursday night’s show, kicked off by fellow contestants who believed –— rightly — that he was one of the front-runners to win the $250,000 prize that will be handed out to the person who loses the largest percentage of his or her body weight. As is customary, the epilogue to the elimination is a segment in which the cameras catch up with the contestant today, to see whether the weight loss is continuing at home.

Dane’s epilogue was, seemingly, one of the most inspirational in recent memory when it was announced that he’d been training for and had completed a marathon.

But it turns out that an overeager field producer who was following Dane on race day realized that "The Biggest Loser" contestant would not finish the marathon by the six-hour cutoff time, which in turn meant that the producer would not get the footage of Dane crossing the finish line in personal victory. So the field producer picked Dane up in a vehicle and then dropped him a few miles closer to the finish. While the finish time in the background appeared to be 3:53, it was actually 5:53 — the descrepancy being caused by some bum lightbulbs on the time clock that made the 5 appear to be a 3, the source said.

The source also said Dane was so upset that he accepted the ride and didn't run the full distance that he went back later in the day — with his cousin Blaine, who was also with him on the show — and ran the missing miles so that he could say he did indeed run 26.2 miles.

The source said the fabrication came to NBC's attention after that apparent sub-four-hour finish time — an enviable pace for even an experienced runner — set off alarm bells in many corners, including among other runners in the marathon, and the blogosphere began buzzing about whether such a pace was possible for a big guy like Dane. (Kudos to TVBarn.com, which did a great job of covering the unfolding story with the tart headline, "The Biggest Loser" — or is that "Biggest Liar"? — fabricates account of contestant finishing marathon).

The traditional morning-after conference call with the week's eliminated contestant — in this case, Dane — was abruptly canceled.

NBC has rescheduled the conference call for Monday.

Another source close to "The Biggest Loser" said there was a feeling of sadness because the show "relies on its integrity" in a world where reality programming is often suspect, and this person hoped this didn't overshadow Dane's accomplishments. "Dane is such a nice guy," the source said.

It was unclear what, if anything, will happen to the field producer.

In the meantime, what do you think about this development? Does this hurt the show's credibility?

— Rene Lynch

Photo credit: NBC Universal

Comments

[Del D.]

I hope this story has lingering consequences for NBC. The public sees these types of shams going on daily in government and how are we to trust a news organization from NBC (or any other) when the leadership from the top allows this to go on the air? The only way to effect change is if enough of us change channels so that their advertisers know we aren't watching their lies any longer. Where are we going to find someone in a high level position with enough integrity to stop this nonsense? The segment producer will probably get a raise and bonus for the publicity NBC is getting instead of being fired. Has anyone heard this anywhere else lately? Stop watching any reality shows from NBC and stop watching their news department until they get the message. NBC--National Broadcasting Corrupted!

[md]

Stop being haters...anyone who lost an type of weight is inspirational....he ran more than alot of other people.

[Rachie]

Good God the man has lost 130 pounds who gives a rats ass if they shine it up for tv, like the media doesnt do that all the time with the war! and politics! and all that other bologna.

[Mike]

How much better of a story line would it have been if he finished after the race was shut down. That would have been more of an acomplishment.

[Danielle]

He ran over half of it, that's pretty darn good for someone who only recently weighed in at almost 400 lbs. Does it hurt the show's credibility? Well, really, it seems more like a misunderstanding than something that was purposely misleading. If you want to talk about something hurting the show, look at the previously eliminated silver team. They weren't even good friends in the first place, which was obvious as they self destructed and embarrassed themselves on national television. I think that kind of thing hurts the show more than a half finished marathon. I still love Biggest Loser and hope the black team finishes strong in the finale.

[urdoc]

Who really cares if he didnt run the 3 miles. He went back to run them and he admited his mistakes. If people don't have anything else better to talk about then they really have no life!!

[Tony Perkinson]

Terrible. I have run 2 marathons, my last in 5 hours 15 minutes. Even at an easy 11-12 minute pace it is hard as hell because of the length. This guy is a loser for cheating.

[Richard Isaacs]

I, too, was amazed at Dane's time--and so inspired! And I've noticed that several bloggers have said that the real time doesn't matter (or that they lied), that it was the "inspiration" that mattered. I understand that--that's why I was a kidney and liver donor to poor orphan twins. Actually, that's not true. But wasn't it inspiring? I don't think lying is inspiring--I think it is an insult to those who do finish a marathon despite the odds--just as my lie about being an organ donor is an insult to those heroes who really donate.

[Sandy]

I believe that the biggest loser would have had more of a story if they had shown Dane finising the 26 miles even if he did not make it in the required time limit to get an official statement that he ran a 6 hour marathon. It would have been REALITY, it would have been honest, and America could have cheered for his accomplishments... as it stands it is shameful.

[JesseR]

I don't even watch the show but happened to catch this ending with my girlfriend. First thing I said was "no way that fat ass could finish a marathon". They even had a little epilogue which turned out to be a flat out lie. Something like "Dane completed a 26 mile marathon in 3 hours 53 minutes". Funny how there were 2 lies in that short statement. He didn't complete the marathon and even had he been able to it certainly would not have been under 4 hours. Maybe they should've had him run a 10k or something at least believable.

[Scott Parker]

WHAT A GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENT FOR DANE! WHO CARES ABOUT THE DETAILS. ISNT THIS ABOUT PERSONAL GOALS AND EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY...MOTIVATION FOR OTHERS?
I AM A MARATHON AND ULTRA DISTANCE RUNNER AS WELL AS A TRIATHLETE AND HAVE AS MUCH RIGHT AS ANYONE TO BE OFFENDED BY SOMEONE CLAIMING TO DO WHAT WE WORK AND TRAIN SO HARD AT TO ACHIEVE. BUT HEY!........LETS STEP BACK AND LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE HERE. DANE LOST100LBS....MOTIVATED WHO KNOWS HOW MANY PEOPLE.....TV GOT WHAT IT NEEDED TO MAKE A SHOW THAT....REMEMBER.....NEEDS VIEWERS TO CONTINUE TO BE ON SO THEY CAN MOTIVATE OTHERS.
HATS OFF AND CONGRATULATIONS TO DANE AND HIS WIFE, THE PRODUCER ON SITE AND "THE BIGGEST LOSER" FOR NOT ONLY DOING WHAT THEY DO BUT THE EXPLANATION IS VERY UNDERSTANDABLE AS WELL. NO APOLOGY NEEDED HERE....I UNDERSTAND.
KEEP WORKING HARD DANE! I AM PROUD OF YOU.
Scott Parker
San Diego Triathlon Club
(lost over 40lbs the past few years...have 20 to go but am doing the worlds toughest half ironman "superfrogs" in 4 weeks)

[Faith]

It makes me upset. I ran my first marathon last year in 5 hours 5 minutes and 25 seconds. The hardest part of a marathon is the 8 miles. Chicago was burtal last year but still I finished. And if I didn't I would never tell people I did finish, especially the entire country. I don't blame Dane because it was probably the biggest loser idea but the fact he ran his first marathon under 4 hours. I think the biggest loser should have made his time more realistic. I feel sorry for Dane that he is put in this situation.

[phil]

This is a crock, he did not run 23 mile on his own in under 4 hours. If he could not make it in 6 hours and theyonly drove him 3 miles they at most saved him 45 minutes, how did he drop over 2 hours in the run. I have ran 2 marathon and I was able to do a 4 hour marathon and it took me allot of training and I am in shape to start with. They have tainted the show NBC and the show shouldbe cancelled.

[ch]

He didn't finish the marathon. He knew it was wrong to accept help. Shame on him for knowingly letting everyone believe he did, and shame on that field producer for giving an assist and then airing the clip. I hope he does not become the other winner at the end of the season -- good for him for losing 130+ pounds, but I think he should be ashamed for going along with this facade.

[Carla]

i have to agree with most of these post...THE BIGGEST LOSER is a show that is supossed to inspire us overweight people to get up and move, exercise and eat better...for the most part it does...but this is a huge problem...like the privous post Dane should have not participated in the shame and should have known not to cheat with the "field producer"....it is not what time he completed but that he completed...we would have been proud either way...but to cheat is to slap us in the face

[Aaron Sternberg]

I am sorry to all you people that dont like the show, and just needed more reason to hate it, but this show helps people lose weight and more inportant helps people learn how to eat right and stay healthy why everyone does not want to see people get healthy is beyound me, it makes me sad to see there are that many people out there that dont want to see people getting healthy, yes what dane did is very much wrong, but what the show has done for all those other people is very much right.

[zeeem]

GIVE ME A BREAK!!! Tarnish what exactly? The guy completed 17 miles then went back and FINISHED what he missed. I don't think that tarnishes anything, especially not Dane. If it wasn't for the results he got from Biggest Loser, he wouldn't have even gotten close to 17 miles, much less even tried. I'm just sorry the producer couldn't see the big picture. Finishing was the important thing, which I have no doubt he intended on doing. So it wouldn't have been "on time". Big deal! It's about finishing your goal, regardless. I think trying to set appearances instead of finishing the goal is why there's even a need for Biggest Loser in the first place. Bad judgement on that instance, but there's no denying the show still accomplishes what it does!!!

[Dorie]

I personally think the producer should be held responsible. He or she is more responsible for misleading the public than Dane is. Reality tv is not reality...it's whatever the producers want it to be.

[Adam]

What a loser!

[Linda L.]

I believe Dane did go back and finish the missing miles on his own. Too bad he listened to the overzealous field producer. I believe he may be very disheartened by all this and hope he puts it behind him soon and does not allow it to deter him from his goal. Something like this becomes the ONLY focus for some people sometimes instead of looking at the whole. It depends on your perspective. If you are part of the sports world and are working for the integrity of it all and so rules are your main focus, that is where it is at. Dane is not part of the sports world. He is a contestant caught up in a big show and trying to get healthy. It is not my focus either as a viewer. I just want to see him successful in his goal. I am glad it came out, though, and that the record was set straight for Dane's sake, too, or it could be hard to live with. The bigger the fame, the more magnified are mistakes. Luckily, the opportunities here are huge, too. Go, Dane! Deal with it and move on.