Doug Blasdell
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Doug Blasdell (December 14, 1962 – January 22, 2007) was an American trainer and
reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...
personality who appeared on
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's
reality TV Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 199 ...
series '' Work Out''. He was the oldest trainer on the series.


Biography

Born Douglas C. Blasdell to Donald Milton "Skip" Blasdell and Deanna Lou (Savage) Blasdell. One sister, Sandra, a year older. According to an interview on AfterEllen.com, Blasdell was born at St. Joseph's hospital in
Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. Doug attended school in Arbuckle, California, from junior high through high school. The Los Angeles native earned a business degree in 1988 at the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
and was the first in his family to graduate from college. While at USC, Doug was a brother of Sigma Pi fraternity. Blasdell's interest in health and fitness flourished from a young age. He grew his business as a personal trainer and became one of
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
's sought-after trainers and
spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...
instructors. He carried his experience in personal fitness into the reality TV world with Bravo's program “Work Out”. The Douglas Blasdell Outreach Program, hosted by the Los Angeles City College Foundation (LACC), will help to support student scholarships, gay and lesbian awareness programs,
HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...
education material, and other initiatives.


''Work Out''

Blasdell appeared on the July 18, 2006, cover of ''
The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * The Advocate (magazine), ''The Advocate'' (magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States * ''The Harvard Advocate' ...
'' alongside the show's star,
Jackie Warner Jackie Warner (born Jacqueline Renee Waddell on August 17, 1968) is an American fitness trainer best known for her participation in ''Work Out'', a Bravo (US TV channel), Bravo TV reality show. She owned ''Sky Sport and Spa'', a gym and spa in ...
. Speaking to AfterElton.com around the same time, he talked about how much he enjoyed working on the Bravo show. "It's a beautiful thing because it really focuses on being gay and the gay community in general," he said. "The people they picked represent our community very well. I mean, there's drama, of course. There is in any community. But the three of us give different examples of what it is to be gay. And none of it is negative." Blasdell sought neither celebrity nor the spotlight and was reserved about his new-found fame. He viewed his celebrity as an opportunity to market a book he had been working on, related to the early deaths of his parents and sister, as well as his time caring for his grandmother in her final days. He confided to one of his personal training clients that he wished to share those experiences with the public, with the hope that it would benefit others.


Death

At the time of his death in 2007, Blasdell was 44 years old. According to ''
The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * The Advocate (magazine), ''The Advocate'' (magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States * ''The Harvard Advocate' ...
'', he died unexpectedly after being rushed to the hospital. No official report has been released on the cause of death. According to reports, he was hospitalized in December and he went into a coma not long after New Year's. He had previously undergone
chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...
for a brain tumor, but was reportedly in remission at the time of his death. On April 10, Bravo released the third episode into the second season of its series "Work Out". Doug was dealing with the medical situation of his ex-lover, who was undergoing kidney complications as well. He was assisting in helping him with building enough strength to undergo a
kidney transplant Kidney transplant or renal transplant is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient with end-stage kidney disease (ESRD). Kidney transplant is typically classified as deceased-donor (formerly known as cadaveric) or living-donor transplantat ...
. The day before Doug's 44th birthday, Doug and his ex-partner of 15 years, Cheo, were working out at SkySport. In cutscenes, Doug talked about how other members of his family did not live to see 43 and that he was going to celebrate his 44th birthday, a momentous occasion for him. He prophetically states this will be the last birthday ''party'' that he will celebrate. During his birthday party and Cheo's blood treatment, Doug was noticeably sick onscreen, coughing almost nonstop. Finally after his party, he was "M.I.A.", in a very concerned Jackie's words, because he had not come into the spa for a week and had not answered phone calls. Jackie did not realize how serious everything was until she finally got a call from Cheo saying that Doug had a very severe flu and was admitted to the hospital; Blasdell was so dehydrated that his kidneys shut down to the point where he was put into a chemically induced coma. Jackie announced the news of his illness to her trainers, some of whom were visibly upset and saddened by the news. Despite a past disagreement between him and fellow openly gay trainer Jesse Brune, Doug was well liked and respected by his fellow trainers and his SkySport clients, including singer
Jody Watley Jody Vanessa Watley (born January 30, 1959) is an American singer, songwriter and producer whose music crosses genres including pop, R&B, jazz, dance and electronic soul.Paoletta, Michael (February 22, 2003) "Watley Relaxes In The Setting of The ...
. Trainer Brian Peeler broke the news of Doug's death to his fellow trainers. On February 9, 2007, ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' reported kidney failure as the cause of death. In an April Blog on BravoTv's website, Brian Peeler announced that Doug had been undergoing chemotherapy for
lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph node ...
. Doug became ill with
salmonella ''Salmonella'' is a genus of bacillus (shape), rod-shaped, (bacillus) Gram-negative bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae. The two known species of ''Salmonella'' are ''Salmonella enterica'' and ''Salmonella bongori''. ''S. enterica'' ...
poisoning after his birthday and later developed a staph infection from the shunt in his neck that would ultimately cause his liver to also shut down and contribute to his death.Bravotv.com Blog
Brian further discusses the circumstances surrounding Doug's death in a recent interview with AfterElton.com. A primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) is a primary intracranial tumor appearing mostly in patients with severe immunosuppression (typically patients with AIDS). PCNSLs represent around 20% of all cases of lymphomas in HIV infections (other types are Burkitt's lymphomas and immunoblastic lymphomas). Primary CNS lymphoma is highly associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection (> 90%) in immunodeficient patients (such as those with AIDS and those iatrogenically immunosuppressed).


References


External links


The Douglas Blasdell Outreach Program
*
Biography for "Work Out" on Bravo.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blasdell, Doug 1962 births 2007 deaths American gay men Participants in American reality television series People from Burbank, California American LGBTQ broadcasters 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people