‘Fat’ reality star marched off

By Matthew Lysiak
The Brooklyn Paper

A larger-than-life Bay Ridge man stretched his 15 minutes into 272 miles, but in the end he just couldn’t lose enough to win it all.

Will Millender, 26, had embarked on a 10-week, 550-mile walk from Boston to Washington as part of ABC’s reality show, “Fat March,” in which 12 super-sized contestants lose weight to win cash.

But he was booted off the program in a dramatic elimination scene on Monday.

Millender took the defeat like the former competitive eating champ he was.

“I understand why you did this,” he told his executioners amid a tear or two.

The show was reality TV at its best. Unlike other weight-loss shows like “The Biggest Loser” and “Celebrity Fit Club,” contestants on “Fat March” aren’t battling each other, but trying to become one big (actually, slightly less big) band of brothers.

The goal is to stick together for the entire walk — and share a $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.

By this week’s episode, the walkers had already marched 278 miles to Philadelphia, but had to do another 18 miles in just five hours.

Millender couldn’t make it, and thus gave his fellow contestants an agonizing choice: kick him off and lose another $100,000 out of the pot, or let him stay, but be forced to march back to the spot where he gave up.

In a case of exercise versus loyalty, loyalty lost, and Millender was voted off.

But money wasn’t all that he lost. Millender weighed in at 474 pounds before the march, and was down to 413 — a loss of 61 pounds — at the weigh-in at the end of Monday’s episode. Now he hopes to keep the weight off.

“I am going home to continue what I started,” Millender said after he was eliminated. “I hope the rest of you succeed through this experience.”

Millender has been spotted all over Bay Ridge — but he’s sworn to confidentiality until the show runs its course.

“Fat March” airs Monday nights at 9 pm on ABC. Our money is on the pro wrestler.

Ridge man keeps gaining by losing

By Matthew Lysiak
The Brooklyn Paper

A larger-than-life local figure’s losing ways has him halfway towards winning a huge cash jackpot.

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

The show’s filming wrapped up in July and Millender is back in Bay Ridge — but he’s sworn to confidentiality.

On Aug. 6, he was spotted at the Wicked Monk on Fifth Avenue near 84th Street, kicking back some drinks while watching his reality television debut.

It’s reality TV at its best. Unlike other weight-loss shows like “The Biggest Loser” and “Celebrity Fit Club,” contestants on “Fat March” aren’t battling each other but trying to become one big band of brothers.

If they stay together by the end of the walk, they share a $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.

Predictably, the tall task had taken its toll on the oversized contestants.

By this week’s episode, the walkers had already marched the 230 miles from Boston to Times Square, but the group was down to nine losers.

But Millender was still on the march.

Millender told The Brooklyn Paper that ABC does not allow him to give interviews while the show is still airing, but those who saw Bay Ridge’s newest reality star say his weight loss looked dramatic.

“He actually looks like a different person,” said Bridget Lysiak (yes relation), who saw Millender strolling on 86th Street near Fourth Avenue. “The man could have easily lost 100 pounds.”

Millender weighed in at 474 pounds before the march. He was down to 424, a loss of 48 pounds, in the weigh-in at the end of Monday’s episode.

Of course, shedding those pounds in such a quick amount of time had its price.

“On top of a weird muscle pain in my chest area, I also had a bit of chafing under my belly which cause me an extreme discomfort,” lamented Millender on his blog at realitywanted.net.

“After a visit to the bathroom, the pain of that, combined with how I had been feeling for the day, caused an unexpected emotional outburst and subsequent blackout.”

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 eater, the now-slimmed down Borough President Markowitz).

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

“Fat March” airs Monday nights at 9 pm on ABC.


©2007 The Brooklyn Paper

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.