Biggest Loser contestant Tara Costa signed a deal with a fitness company, but after she sued the company, they claimed she violated her contract because she put on weight, the company sued. INSIDE EDITION has the story.
Tara Costa is the former Biggest Loser contestant who lost an astonishing 155 pounds.
Now, can you believe she's being sued for allegedly not keeping the weight off?
Costa told INSIDE EDITION, “I feel like I’m being bullied.”
She has battled the bulge all her life. At her heaviest, she weighed 316 pounds. She rattled off the diets she's tried, “Atkins, Beverly Hills, South Beach, Body for Life, Campbell’s Soup diet, Fit for Life, Medi fast, portion control, master cleanse, Opti fast, high fiber, low fiber, no fiber, Subway, Zone, low carb, Nutrisystem, Weight Watchers and Jenny. I have tried everything under the sun. And the Biggest Loser was my break, it was my golden ticket."
Costa was in tears at her initial weigh-in during season seven of the competition. She endured the grueling sessions with trainer Jillian Michaels.
When the competition was over, she placed third weighing 139 pounds. That's when the offers started pouring in. In 2011, she signed a deal became the spokesperson for iLoveKickboxing, appearing in ads all over the website.
But now, things are getting nasty.
First, she sued the company claiming it was using her image after her contract expired.
Now, the company has hit back with a lawsuit of their own. For "breach of contract" because they claim she "did not maintain her current level of conditioning and fitness.”
Costa said, "In this contract there is no weight number, it is not telling me, 'You need to maintain a weight of 160 pounds.' It was a fitness and conditioning clause."
INSIDE EDITION’s Les Trent spoke with Michael Parrella, the CEO of I Love Kickboxing and its parent company FC Online who says Costa looked different on the day he signed her to what she looked like seven months later.
INSIDE EDITION's Les Trent asked Parrella, “You think she gained at least?”
Parrella said, “45-50 pounds from the time we signed her.”
Costa told INSIDE EDITION, “Did I put on muscle mass? Maybe to the tune of five pounds, but nowhere he's claiming 45 pounds that is not the case.”
Costa continues her intense workout regimen, working out 60 to 90 minutes a day. We went with her to Crunch Fitness in New York City. She vows to become the big winner in her Biggest Loser legal battle.
She said, “I'm still being criticized. What, because I'm not a size 2? Because I'm not a certain number on a scale? I have to be my own judge.”
