Anthony and Marichu

Marichu

These days Marichu’s life is completely different. “Being on X-Weighted was totally life changing, that is for sure. Had somebody told me what kind of effect being on the show would have, I would never have believed them,” says Marichu.  

Since filming finished, Marichu says that her life has improved immeasurably and she is a lot happier. “I think I had given up on trying to be happy and trying to be me. Through the whole X-Weighted experience, I became empowered enough to make changes to my life,” she says.

Marichu continued to lose weight and ended up getting a job at the gym, where she had been working out. She worked the front-desk, then was approached by the gym owner to do nutritional coaching too. “He felt that with my psychology degree and life-experiences, the coaching would be something I would be good at,” she says, “it was hard for me because with my body shape I’ve never exactly fit the fitness industry, but when people walked through that front door and I wasn’t like “Barbie” they felt they could connect with me.”

Marichu left Anthony in Spring 2008 and is now in the process of getting divorced. Very soon after leaving her marriage, Marichu met a new man, Troy, and the relationship progressed very quickly. Marichu became pregnant, and gave birth to a son, Jake, in August 2009.

“Being on the show was really difficult for our marriage and magnified the problems we had,” explains Marichu, “It was good that it went the way it did and gave us that final push we needed. Things with Anthony were very difficult during filming and I didn’t feel supported by him throughout the journey.”

For Marichu, her X-Weighted experience was about so much more than losing weight. It gave her back her self-esteem and enabled her to get the life she wanted. She loves the effect that this has had on her daughters, and feels so good about being a better role model to them. “Having seen what I can do, there is just no stopping them,” she says, “I’m watching them blossom and grow with a whole new attitude.”

“The change in my own attitude was probably the most profound thing that I got from the show,” says Marichu, “when you are given an opportunity like that, to change your life in such a public manner, you give it all you’ve got. And you don’t look back, sell yourself short and you don’t make excuses. You have to suck it up and do what you have to do to get through it.”

Marichu says that if she’d known her X-Weighted journey was going to be so hard, she’d have never embarked on it. “It was probably the most difficult thing I’ve ever done,” she says, “but it was worth it every step of the way.”

Anthony 

Since separating from Marichu, life has changed a great deal for Anthony. Due to the stress he has been under, he wasn’t able to keep off all the weight he lost while doing X-Weighted (although he is still a lot lighter than when he started his X-Weighted journey). “There’s way too much stuff going on right now, I’ve put myself on the backburner while I look after other things,” he says.

Anthony shares custody of his daughters with Marichu, and says that right now, the girls are where his focus is. “I’m just trying to get life straightened out,” he says. He is still one course away from completing his degree, and hopes to get to that soon but was feeling burnt out and needed a break from his studies. He is working full time at a bottle-depot, which he says pays “not bad” but says, “it’s not what I want for myself. I still want a career and to better myself, and be the best person I can.”

Anthony says that he learned a lot from the show and is looking forward to getting his fitness back on track once things are more settled in his life. “I just have to find my own personal desire and fire again to want to lose weight,” he says.

He is also looking forward to doing Thai boxing again, as it gave him a great deal of pleasure. “I would walk out just feeling absolutely spent, but I walked out with my head high and just feeling really good. I want that feeling back,” he says.

September 2009