Jillian Michaels a Fraud? Critic Calls Her an Actress Not a Trainer

(CBS) Is Jillian Michaels a fraud?

The tanned and toned star of the hit TV series "The Biggest Loser" may be famous for whipping fatties into shape, but an op-ed piece published by the Los Angeles Times says she isn't a fitness trainer at all - merely "an actress playing the role of fitness trainer."

Ouch.

"Typical viewers think she's great," James S. Fell wrote in the piece," yet the collective jaws of professional trainers hit the floor after witnessing her regular displays of poor technique and unsafe training practices."

Fell questioned Michaels' credentials as well, saying she had some "introductory fitness certifications" but that her website doesn't say anything about her education as a fitness trainer.

Michaels, 36, fought back. Speaking to US Magazine on Wednesday, she said, "Shame on the Los Angeles Times for saying I'm a fraud and not a trainer. I currently own two certifications, one of which doesn't expire. I developed my own continuing education program for trainers, with sports medicine doctors. I've been a trainer since I was 17 years old for 19 years."

On Twitter, she said, "Never thought LA times would resort to liable & defamation to sell papers. Guess I'm canceling my subscription."

Whatever the truth about her fitness training chops, Fell - who blogs about fitness for AOL - has a particular beef about a couple of Michaels' fitness DVDs, which promise weight loss of up to five pounds a week.

Five pounds a week? According to Fell, that's "about as likely as Paris Hilton winning the Nobel Prize in physics."

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