Ridge heavyweight wants to be big loser

By Matthew Lysiak
The Brooklyn Paper

A larger-than-life local figure is about to lower his profile — by a few hundred pounds, hopefully.

Bay Ridge resident Will Millender, 26, is embarking on a 10-week, 550-mile walk from Boston to Washington as part of a new reality show in which 12 super-sized contestants lose weight to win cash.

“I can’t tell you much about it now, but I am hoping the next time you see me, that you will be seeing a lot less,” Millender said last Thursday, the day before he left to begin filming of ABC’s six-episode series, “Fat March,” which is based on the British reality show, “Too Fat to Walk.”

It is the latest variation among TV weight-loss shows, but unlike “The Biggest Loser” and “Celebrity Fit Club” — where contestants battle each other — the goal of the “Fat March” is to become one big band of brothers.

If they stay together by the end of the walk, they share the $1.2-million pot — but every time someone drops out, or is voted out for slowing the others down, the pot is reduced by $100,000.

But the rippling Ridge resident is looking for more than big money and his 15-minutes of fame; Millender (pictured) is looking to change his life.

“I know I need to do something about my weight,” said Millender, who tips the scales at, well, he wouldn’t say. “You just don’t see a lot of older people my size walking around, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why.”

The show, which will be broadcast in August, has already taken a toll on Millender. During a pre-show taping, he fainted and was sent to the hospital. After seriously considering dropping out, Millender, a Kingsborough Community College student, was convinced to keep going by the show’s physical trainers, who are also the hosts. (Turns out, it was just a low-blood-sugar thing. After Millender was checked out, he was cleared to continue.)

Surviving “Fat March” isn’t the first step to changing his life, only the latest, according to Millender’s girlfriend of two years Erin O’Keefe.

“Over the past two years he’s gone from working retail with no ambition to going to college, making the Dean’s List,” said O’Keefe. “It has been a tremendous life-changing few years for him.”

Trial, tribulations, and even a slice of celebrity are nothing new for Millender, who has battled his weight for several years, and whose image can still be found on storefront posters across Ridge for his first place showing at the Fifth Avenue pizza-eating contest last June at Rocco’s Pizzeria (Millender was cheered to victory by a huge crowd that included a once-legendary, now slimmed-down, eater, Borough President Markowitz).

He ate 10 slices in the regulation 12 minutes. The performance made him a legend.

“We had about 2,000 people cheering him on,” said contest host Joseph Loccisano. “If he can walk as well as he eats pizza, he should win that contest, too.”

O’Keefe says that Millender’s march is bigger than any one man, and could set a healthy example for millions.

“This is a once in a lifetime experience — he is going to get healthy and win cash,” said O’Keefe.