The Greatest Loser coach Bob Harper got here perilously near loss of life when he suffered a coronary heart assault in February 2017.
The stunning well being scare was seemingly unimaginable for Harper, who spent 18 seasons coaching contestants on The Greatest Loser to make their bodily and emotional well being a precedence.
Harper revealed throughout an April 2017 look on NBC's At this time that the very last thing he remembered was exercising with associates earlier than passing out and waking up two days later in a hospital mattress.
“On February 12 of [2017] I used to be within the gymnasium, the following factor I knew I awoke in a hospital two days later being informed that I had a coronary heart assault and that I instantly went into cardiac arrest. Discuss a life-changing expertise,” he informed At this time.
Docs initially gave Harper solely a “six p.c” probability of survival. Fortunately, Harper made a miraculous restoration, although the bodily influence of his coronary heart assault was evident seven years later when he took half in bodily challenges on The Traitors.
Maintain scrolling for a rundown of Harper's well being journey since his coronary heart assault:
‘Technically Died'
Throughout an look on Watch What Occurs Dwell With Andy Cohen in April 2017, host Andy Cohen was surprised to seek out out that Harper “technically died” earlier than he was revived by CPR.
“There was a bit of paper from the physician that mentioned, ‘Reason for loss of life: cardiac arrest.' That's a get up name,” Harper identified.
‘Id Disaster'
Harper credited his lifelong ardour for health for saving his life, although that very same ardour made his restoration more difficult from an emotional standpoint.
“I've at all times been an individual that was so pushed and sort A and I've my routine, which I really like, and when all of that was taken away from me and my complete identification of health was taken away, I went by an identification disaster,” Bob admitted to At this time in 2017. “I didn't know who I used to be and it turned a journey for me. I used to be going by this new lifetime of mine and having to rediscover totally different sides of me. It was actually onerous. It was actually emotional; I went by quite a lot of melancholy due to it.”
Shocking Help
Harper confirmed to Cohen throughout a 2017 WWHL episode that “nearly everybody” from The Greatest Loser reached out to him following his coronary heart assault.
The private coach even obtained some shocking help from shock jock Howard Stern within the early days of his restoration.
Bob Harper in January 2020. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Photos
“Howard and [his wife] Beth, they reached out to me,” Harper mentioned. “Then Howard despatched me a video of bare males doing yoga. Beth was like, ‘You're gonna give him one other coronary heart assault!' I really like him.”
‘Not Besties'
One one who by no means reached out to Harper within the wake of his coronary heart assault, in response to the coach himself, was his Greatest Loser costar Jillian Michaels. Harper informed The Guardian in 2025 that he and Harper had been “by no means besties,” although her silence “spoke volumes” in his time of want.
“I might not count on Jillian Michaels to do something apart from what she needs to do,” he admitted.
Street to Restoration
Talking solely to Us Weekly in January 2018, Harper addressed “redefining what my physique is meant to appear like and really feel like” as a part of his restoration.
“The gymnasium is the place I am going to alleviate my stress. It's my glad place. It's my protected place. It's my social place,” he admitted. “And I had my coronary heart assault in that actual place, so after that I then needed to form of work out who I used to be once more, as a result of in some ways, health actually outlined me. And that was taken away from me, in order that was a really massive identification disaster that I went by.”
‘So Grateful'
Harper marked the two-year anniversary of his coronary heart assault in February 2019 with a strong Instagram put up, the place he mirrored on being “so grateful” to have survived.
“Two years in the past right this moment I had a coronary heart assault and went into cardiac arrest,” he added. “My message to you is to understand the place you're in your life. Regardless of how onerous it may possibly get, you've got the ability to alter something that you really want so long as you by no means quit.”
Talking to the Coronary heart
Harper recalled one key a part of his restoration — from an emotional viewpoint — was actually talking to his coronary heart as he exercised.
“There's this one pose I do within the very starting of scorching yoga, the place my arms are over my head and I can see my coronary heart pounding. I can see it, each time. I take a look at it, and I simply kinda go, ‘There he's,'” the host informed Us in January 2020. “I make an acknowledgment, say, ‘Hey little buddy.' I had a physician as soon as, proper after my coronary heart assault after I was going by a lot emotional s***, who needed me to speak to my coronary heart.”
Regardless of working collectively on The Greatest Loser, Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper‘s offscreen friendship was fairly totally different — however the place do they stand now? NBC's The Greatest Loser, which premiered in 2004, adopted a gaggle of individuals deemed obese who would compete in a 30-week competitors. The purpose was to lose as many kilos as […]
Throughout one introspective second, Harper in contrast his 2017 cardiac arrest to breaking apart together with his most important organ.
“I used to be like, ‘Why'd you quit on me?' That's what I mentioned,” he defined. “Think about if you happen to've ever been dumped and he broke the f*** out of your coronary heart and also you're taking him again. You need to construct a relationship with him, to belief him once more. It's the very same factor. I needed to begin constructing a relationship, to belief it to enter a gymnasium.”
Bodily Toll
Harper shared an particularly susceptible facet of his restoration whereas competing on The Traitors in 2025. When one problem required the contestants to tug heavy Easter Island reproduction statues up a hill, Harper wanted assist from his costars to be able to full the duty.
“That day actually f***ed me up,” he informed People in January 2025. “And I'll inform you, since my coronary heart assault, I utterly modified the best way I work out. And for years all I've completed is yoga.”
Chrishell Stause, Robyn Dixon, Ciara Miller and Bob The Drag Queen help Bob Harper on ‘The Traitors.' Euan Cherry/Peacock
The previous Celeb Apprentice star confirmed that his grueling expertise on The Traitors “undoubtedly modified” the best way he exercised as soon as he acquired house.
“I'm doing much more difficult issues 1755745263, which feels actually good,” he mentioned. “However for the longest time, I didn't belief my coronary heart anymore.”
