Jillian Michaels's Real Name: Jillian Michaels

Quick answer: She is known professionally as Jillian Michaels. A Library of Congress record lists the cross-reference "McKarus, Jillian Leigh" and a birth date of February 18, 1974, but that birth name was not confirmed by a second independent source here. The Los Angeles Times described her as 36 in June 2010 and says she was raised in a Los Angeles suburb.

Real name and early life

The Library of Congress authority file uses the heading Michaels, Jillian, with "McKarus, Jillian Leigh" as a variant, and quotes a description of her as born Jillian Leigh McKarus on February 18, 1974, from Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Times, in a June 2010 profile by Rene Lynch, gives her age as 36, consistent with that year.

The Times says she was "a latchkey kid raised in an L.A. suburb," and that she was entering her teens when her parents' divorce turned bitter. It says she turned to food for comfort, was about 60 pounds heavier and 2 inches shorter than her adult height of 5 feet 2, and was "saved" by martial arts and fitness. Her official website likewise says she was an overweight youth and trained for 12 years in Muay Thai and Akauri-Do, in which she holds a black belt.

Career highlights

Penguin Random House's author page says she is "best known as a strength trainer and life coach for NBC's hit series The Biggest Loser," and that she has held personal training certifications from NESTA and the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America since 1993. Her website lists four personal training certifications and a nutrition and wellness consulting certification.

The Times says she hosted the NBC series Losing It with Jillian, which debuted in June 2010 and visited families struggling with weight and life setbacks. She told the paper the show was "about rebooting your life," calling it almost a behind-the-scenes look at The Biggest Loser. The paper also described her as running a fitness business with bestselling books, a cookbook, and an online subscription program.

Her website says she founded the company Empowered Media in 2008, is the author of eight New York Times bestsellers, has been nominated for an Emmy, created a fitness app, and hosts the podcast Keeping It Real with Jillian Michaels. It says she contributes to outlets including E! News and Fox News. It says she has two children, Phoenix and Lukensia, and has a ninth book due from HarperCollins in 2027.

Name notes for searchers

People looking up Jillian Michaels or Jillian Leigh McKarus are looking for the same fitness personality. The McKarus form comes from a Library of Congress cross-reference and has not been independently confirmed here.