How challenging has the show been and would you say it’s more or less challenging than competing in the ring?
I really felt going into this that I’ve done some of the hardest things ever and wrestling is, by far, one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. When I first started, I had just come off of doing fitness competitions. I was in great shape. To get in the ring and learn how to wrestle was the hardest thing I’d ever done. There were days when I felt like I had been hit by a car because everything hurts — there’s bruises underneath your armpits, your back hurts, I’ve broken ribs in the ring. You just keep on going. I thought, “I can do this. This won’t be so bad. It’s working out. I’ve done that before.” Actually being on the ranch, it was really difficult for me and if I could say anything has been as hard as learning how to wrestle, it would definitely be being on The Biggest Loser.
I think the reason [it was so hard] for me was, as soon I wrapped my head around the fact that I was cast on the show and I was going to do this thing, I get into competition mode. I’m very competitive and I want to win, so the second that I got on the ranch, my athleticism came back, all the competitiveness came back, but my body didn’t match anymore. I’m going into these workouts that I used to do everyday, but now I’m over 100lbs overweight. It was so hard for me. It was so frustrating for me because I haven’t always been overweight. I’ve only been overweight for the last seven years, so I remember what it feels like to be an athlete, to be at the top of your game, to be really good at what you do. Here I was at the ranch, going through these workouts that are so incredibly difficult and I just wanted to rip off that shell, all of that weight, and be that athlete I used to be. It was really difficult for me to accept where I was and where I needed to start out.
Filming the show, do you feel you’ve accomplished something and have you gotten back to feeling like your old self?
I definitely feel like I’m getting there. It’s definitely a long journey. It’s not just about weight loss, it’s about everything — the whole mind, body, spirit — the whole thing. It all goes hand in hand. That’s what’s great about being on The Biggest Loser, it’s not just about the weight. You have so much time to think, to talk things through and figure out why you got to that place so everything can be resolved when you leave. It’s not just weight. I’m definitely getting there. I’m very much a perfectionist, I put a lot of pressure on myself having been a wrestler and such an athlete, so that’s one of the difficult things for me. That’s part of my journey, I need to know that good is good enough for me. I don’t always have to be perfect or #1. I have to do as good as I can.
Do you have any highlights from your time in TNA? That first ever women’s stretcher match with Trinity comes to mind.
That one [the stretcher match] is definitely one of my favorites. I loved working with Trinity. We’re still friends, we still keep in touch. She was definitely my favorite person to work with. I didn’t work with a whole lot of girls and she was just so tough — she’s a stunt woman, she would just do anything, it was crazy. I loved that about her. I think the stretcher match was my favorite.
Yourself, Trinity and some of the girls during that era were before your time. Now they have the Knockouts division and a belt. Do you keep up with TNA at all and what do you think about the way the women have developed since your time there?
I haven’t really kept up with it. When I left wrestling I left wrestling completely. I think that’s wonderful, because that’s something I always wished there had been more of when I was in wrestling. The girls go through just as much as the guys go through in that wrestling ring, if not more, because it’s almost like you can’t really be a girl there. You have to toughen up and be like one of the boys. There’s no crying, there’s no nothing — that’s why I ended up getting up with a broken back and I finished the match, because I had been taught how to be tough, how to be strong and be one of the boys. So to hear that there’s a belt, there’s a division, there’s all of these accolades now for the women wrestlers, I think that’s fantastic.
Is there something you’d like to get out of appearing on The Biggest Loser wrestling-wise? Perhaps a return to the business even if it’s not in the ring, for example, signings, conventions or managing at shows?
I’m really open for anything at this point. I just really want to keep an open mind about everything and what’s to come with this journey. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I would never say no to anything, or at least look at what my options might be. I absolutely loved wrestling. I feel like when I got into the ring, I was there for all the right reasons. I was very athletic, I loved being in the ring, and I loved doing what I did for all the fans. It was my favorite thing. Whatever happens happens and I’m definitely open to anything.
Anything else you’d like to say to the fans out there?
I hope everyone tunes in to the show, enjoys it and follows my journey. It’s definitely a difficult to do and I just hope for everybody’s support.
The Biggest Loser premieres on Tuesday, January 3rd at 8/7c.
