THE new season of The Biggest Loser has had to be radically re-edited after a contestant was charged with possessing child pornography.

Deryck James Ward, 26, of Gaythorne in Brisbane's northwest, was charged by Queensland Police on January 16 in relation to material allegedly found at his home.



He and his sister Renita, 29, had been contestants on the fifth season of Loser which premieres on Sunday night.



Both had been eliminated before the two charges were laid.

Channel 10 and production company FremantleMedia Australia were thrown into turmoil upon hearing of the charges last week.



Ten announced yesterday the series had undergone major re-editing and would be re-packaged to follow the journey of nine couples instead of the original 10.



No mention of the charged man nor his sister will be included in its broadcast.



It taints what it tipped to be a stunning debut by Hayley Lewis in her new role as Biggest Loser host this weekend.



The couple were the second couple to be eliminated from the reality weight-loss series, which has been in production in Sydney for several months.



"Given the seriousness of these charges and that this matter is to be resolved in the courts, the network decided it will not broadcast any episode in which Mr Ward would have appeared,'' a Ten spokeswoman said yesterday.



`We believe this is in every party's interest, including Mr Ward's.''



Ward, whose occupation is listed as communications specialist, weighed 189.6kg on entering the Biggest Loser house with his goal weight being 100kg.



His biographical details for the show state he "started piling on the weight when he was at school" on a diet of junk food.



He was teased at school for being overweight and as a result gave up playing rugby, it said.



Ward cited the death of his father in 2008 only three weeks after being diagnosed with bowel cancer as one reason why he over-eats.



"He is now determined to lose weight especially as he's never been in love and would like to start a family,'' promotional material for the show said.



Ward has been charged with one count of possessing child exploitation material and one count of using the internet to access child exploitation images.



He is expected to appear in court on March 8.

Originally published as Loser contestant in child porn scandal