Idol Chatter & Voice Views

If you’ve been watching The Voice, you’ve seen the commercials.

If not, you might not know that the season premiere of NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” is right around the corner.

And that a former Idol winner is participating.

Ruben Studdard will appear on Season 15 of The Biggest Loser. (NBC Photo)

Ten years after his Idol run, Ruben’s weight has ballooned to 462 pounds, making him the heaviest of the Season 15 contestants.

According to his biggest loser bio, he suffers from high blood pressure and sleep apnea.

“When I turned 34,” I realized I wasn’t young anymore and that I wanted to live a long time,” says Ruben, now 35. “It was time for a change.”

In a video on the Biggest Loser website, Ruben says his weight hasn’t limited him musically.

“But what’s eluded me is the picture of optimal health, and that is what I really want. When the people called me to do the ‘Biggest Loser,’ I could not pass up the opportunity to change my life in that way.”

Ruben says he was vegan for three years and lost 100 pounds between 2008 and 2009, but gained the weight back.

Now he’s hoping to learn lifestyle changes via the NBC show, which is touting him as its first celebrity player.

Season 15 of “The Biggest Loser” kicks off Tuesday night at 8 p.m.