biggest loser - irresistable!

OK - My husband's out of town so I can watch the Biggest Loser.  (He hates the show!)  These guys are adorable - in DC today.  My question - can they really do all that exercise with a diet of 1200 - 16oo calories?  (5 - 6 hours a day of exercise on so few calories?)  I LOVE exercise, and try to do 2 hours a day, but I adjust my calories accordingly.  What would happen if I kept my calories down to 1400 and worked out 3 hours a day?  Starvation mode or fast weight loss?  I'd love to hear a response from any nutrionists or medical professionals out there.

There was actually a blog on this site regarding the Biggest Loser Debate: http://caloriecount.about.com/biggest-loser-d ebate-b346265

And there were a huge number of comments in response -- this one I've copied below came from a former contestant and it's interesting to check out her blog for a bit of an insider view:

I AM a former contestant. They treated us very poorly, it was the world's most unhealthy crash diet. I talk all about it on my blog, if you want to know what it was really like for those of us there ( I can only speak about Season 3, other contestants may have had a different experience) I answered every question any fan ever sent me on myspace and facebook on my blog. My blog is www.kaifitness.com I will answer anything people want to know. I get that when I was 262 pounds at 5ft5 I wasn't healthy, but there was nothing healthy psychologically or physically about what TBL was either.

Kai Hibbard

The Biggest Loser Season 3

www.myspace.com/bl3kai

Search for Kai Hibbard if want to find me or ask me anything on Facebook

Wow - thanks.  that's really interesting and helpful.  I'll check it out.