'Biggest Loser' Cast Includes Gaithersburg Singer

Erin Willett, a singer/songwriter from Gaithersburg who appeared on “The Voice,” is now a contestant on the reality show “The Biggest Loser.”

The 17th season of the NBC show debuted Jan. 4; it airs at 9 p.m. ET on Mondays.

“I am beyond excited to start this journey on ‘The Biggest Loser’,“ Willett said in a statement to Patch. “For a long time I always wanted change in my life, but was scared to initiate it. Now I’m ready to face my demons and be fearless.”

When a fitness coach asked Willett, 26, why she was taking part in the show, she said she became bulimic after moving to Los Angeles, and wants to safely lose weight.

“You get lost in the illusion of it all, I wanted the focus to be off of my weight,” Willett says in a video. “I was puking, that’s how I did it. … I just don’t want to be the fat girl any more.”

She was a semifinalist on the second season of NBC’s “The Voice,” competing under the guidance of country star Blake Shelton. After that show, Willett worked in Los Angeles as a demo singer and songwriter.

But, the focus on looks in LA and the stress of her father’s death pushed Willett to first gain weight, and then suffer from the eating disorder to lose 50 pounds, she said.

Tired of being ashamed of her weight, feeling out of control and having never been able to lose weight in a healthy way, Erin is now 238 pounds and ready to get healthy, the show’s website says. Once she loses the weight, Willett says, “I look forward to feeling unstoppable and powerful, and taking control of my own destiny instead of just going through the motions of the day.”

Willett is currently based in Brooklyn, NY. She began her musical career while studying marketing and music at Hofstra University. In December 2012, she independently released her debut EP, which is available on iTunes. She plans to release new music this year, with the single “Out of the Darkness” coming out on Jan. 25.

»Image of Erin Willett special to Patch