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Back in 2008, Ali Vincent became an inspiration for many when she became the very first female winner of The Biggest Loser after shedding 112 pounds in her time on the show. Now, eight years later, Vincent is opening up about her emotional issues after revealing that she had regained almost all of the weight she lost.
Vincent revealed that much of her emotional trauma and issues which was followed by the weight gain, happened after she was sexually assaulted during a massage. “The Biggest Loser gave me the opportunity to believe in myself, and I don’t know that I ever really did,” Vincent said on a talk show on Monday, December 5. “Everybody wanted me to and I wanted to for them, and I had the results to prove it. But do I really deserve to have everything that I dream of? Do I deserve to have this happiness?”
She went on to tell the host T.D. Jakes, “I know that there’s stuff that I have to deal with, and I know that it goes back way far, but then I also know that I’m 41 years old. When am I going to do my own stuff? When can I just let it go?” Jakes responded, “It has nothing to do with age. You can be 91. Until you confront whatever it is that’s eating at you, it will live forever. You cannot allow what happened to you to control what is possible for you.”
Vincent first opened up about her weight gain in April of 2016, writing on Facebook, “On April 16th I did one of the hardest things in my life. I joined Weight Watchers and weighed in close to the weight I started at on The Biggest Loser [234 pounds]. I swore I would never be there again, be here again. I couldn’t imagine a day again that I would weigh over 200 pounds. I feel ashamed. I feel embarrassed. I feel overwhelmed. I feel like a failure.”
In October, Vincent revealed to Oprah Winfrey that she had been sexually assaulted during a massage in 2015, and the emotional stress led to weight gain, and has also admitted she is now embarrassed to leave the house. “People recognize me but … they never even put it together that I was the girl that won The Biggest Loser. When I tell them how they know me, they look me up and down with this confused look on their face. It makes me not want to leave the house.”
Source: Us Weekly