Brides, willing to do anything to lose weight – and viewers are sure to be entertained!

By Bonnie Pfiester

Weight loss reality television has been proven to get results and that’s why people keep coming back for more.

Every show has a different twist or challenge that really connects and entertains viewers. The newest weight loss reality show to hit the small screen is Bridal Bootcamp - a show to inspire the “average person”, with girls on the show as much as only 40lbs overweight. As a health club owner of a large all-women’s club, Longevity Fitness Club & Spa, this probably describes our average new member.

I see it day after day. Most of our new members would consider themselves fat, but in reality, they just need to lose 10-40lbs. This may seem trivial to those who are more than 50lbs overweight, but to anyone who is used to being 3 or 4 sizes smaller - it’s as real as it gets. If you were once a size 2 and now a size 12, you are just as miserable at a size 22 when 12 was your skinny size. Then, you throw an engagement in the mix and total panic sets in.

I mean, who wants to feel fat in the one photograph you know will last forever – even when you are dead and gone. This is the one photograph you can’t retake when you are skinny. It’s the shot that captures that special moment and you definitely want to look your best without regrets.

Then you see a casting call for brides who want help getting in their dream wedding dress. Duh! Of COURSE this would attract thousands of girls. This is the opportunity of a lifetime. Get the best training available, and if you do everything they tell you, it’s basically guaranteed results – unless you get voted off of course.

Bridal Bootcamp will relate to the average woman who hopes to be a bride, has been a bride, or wants to be a bride again – and that is pretty much every woman on the planet.

Leftfield Pictures planned on taking all the stimulating components people love about weight loss reality TV and take it up a couple of notches. For instance, in the first few minutes of the premiere you’ll watch 10 brides, dressed in wedding gowns and combat boots, being yanked off a military transport truck and immediately pulled into the middle of a combat simulation - complete with explosives and the clatter of gunfire.

Sound like any weight loss reality show you’ve seen? Even my husband, Bridal Bootcamp trainer, Steve Pfiester couldn’t believe the energy on the set. This show was much different from the last show he was a part of.

Founder and bestselling author, Cynthia Conde, enlists ten flabby fiancés, divides them into two “bridal parties,” and sets them up in a special boot camp program designed to turn them into bombshell brides before their big day.  Pfiester, the trainer for the Blue Team will be responsible for slimming down his five brides, and Francesca Petrucci, Green Team trainer, will have her five brides to whip into shape – and it won’t take long to realize they both mean business.

The Brides-to-be will be put through “Marital Missions” to lose enough weight to fit into their dream dress and survive a series of eliminations in hopes of winning the wedding of their dreams.  The 60-minute premiere of “Bridal Bootcamp” will kick butt on Wednesday, June 9 at 10:00PM followed by seven 30-minutes episodes every Wednesday following.

In each episode, the “bridal parties” will endure various challenges with the winning group receiving immunity and the losing party heading to the “fitting room” to face the dreaded weigh-in and possible elimination.  Facing uncharted waters, these women will shed tears and pounds and find discipline, self-respect, happiness and hopefully the beautiful bride trapped inside.

In the series premiere two girls go to the hospital, two go to war and one team establishes itself as the front-runner. In my opinion, this may truly be one of the most entertaining weight loss reality shows to hit the small screen.

“Bridal Bootcamp” will feature the following:

Brides:

·         Amberly - San Diego, CA
·         Courtney - Lives on a cruise ship
·         Jamie - Elmendorf AFB, AK
·         Kacey - Rosamond, CA
·         Kelley - Murfreesboro, TN
·         Lauren - Old Forge, PA
·         Melissa – Pittsburgh, PA
·         Tara - Spring Hill, TN
·         Tesha - Portsmouth, VA
·         Tina - Harriman, NJ

Trainers:

·         Cynthia Conde - Lead Trainer - New York, NY
·         Steve Pfeister – Trainer - Vero Beach, FL
·         Francesca Petrucci – Trainer - New York, NY

Watch the Super Trailer, read the Cast Bios, View Photos and more at VH1.com. Each episode will be available on VH1.com the morning after they premiere. Additional video content from each series will be available on VH1.com and on VH1 Mobile throughout the season. For more information or artwork, visit http://www.vh1press.com.

Check in weekly for Vh1 Bridal Bootcamp Recaps by Bonnie Pfiester