
There was a time in the 2000s when someone, somewhere realised there was a foolproof recipe for successful television.
All you had to do was take an incredibly complex subject - weight, stigmatised illnesses, drastic cosmetic procedures - and... put them in front of an international audience. With no nuance. Or ongoing support for anyone involved.
That's how we ended up with The Biggest Loser. Extreme Makeover. The Swan. Embarrassing Bodies. And, of course, the enduring cultural stain that is Supersize vs Superskinny.
For the unacquainted, Supersize vs Superskinny was a British TV show that aired from 2008 to 2014, and was hosted by Dr Christian Jessen.
Please... don't. Image: Channel 4.
It aired on Australian TV - on Foxtel and free-to-air - and essentially documented overweight and underweight people trying to change their bodies.
The premise is this: Two individuals are brought into a 'feeding clinic' and made to swap diets. You can imagine what happens. The overweight person is left hungry, and the underweight person is served portions of food they can't finish. Neither individual is in any way qualified to deal with the other's potential issues around food, so they candidly, emotionally, viciously criticise each other for their horrible, destructive choices.
After several days in the clinic, during which Dr Jessen makes a handful of appearances to tell the participants about the short- and long-term damage their diet is doing to their body, both individuals are given eating plans to follow for the next three months.
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