“The Biggest Loser” fans were shocked by Tuesday night’s episode. It turned out that fitness coach Jillian Michaels broke house rules by giving caffeine supplements to her team. It now seems that Jillian will be the biggest loser after all.  This unprecedented breaching of the house rules led to the return of the famed former American Idol winner, Ruben Studdard.  The American idol had been eliminated from the show last week for failing to lose the required minimum weight.

Jillian’s actions could be damaging to her reputation and the integrity of the show. However, she insisted that there was nothing wrong with issuing the caffeine supplements because they are completely safe, although she said she was sorry that her team members would have to suffer because of her actions. “I stand by my opinion. A caffeine supplement is significantly healthier than unlimited amounts of coffee,” she said. “My only regret is that my team, they’re the ones suffering the consequences of my professional opinion.” As a result of her action, the team will suffer a 4 pound penalty.

Here’s what happened.

Interestingly, there is a conspiracy theory going around suggesting that the mistake was a deliberate one, devised to bring back Ruben in order to boost the show’s ratings. The organizers of the show have not made any comment regarding the conspiracy claims.

Jillian herself has added fuel to the conspiracy claims when she responded with “you’re spot on,” to a tweet that suggested Jillian was being used to bring a famous contestant back. However, many argue that the response was a sarcastic response considering that her reputation as a fitness coach is at stake. Nothing had been said publicly about the cheating dilemma until the weigh-in began, when the host, Alison Sweeney announced: “Last week Jillian broke the rules and gave caffeine supplements to each member of her team without a doctor’s permission. What will happen next week?

See the sneak peek 

(main photo via Wikipedia)