Work Out's Jackie Warner, Strong and Vulnerable

BravoTV's Work Out star Jackie Warner is fascinating. I love a strong woman, and in her professional life she's strong. She's an exceptional fitness trainer and entrepreneur. She's successfully marketed herself and was a millionaire by the age of 22. Her personal life, on the other hand, has been shown to be a mess.

Work Out is a blend of the professional and the personal. I prefer the professional because that's when Jackie seems to be in her element. I enjoy watching her and her trainers help their clients. They know their business. Her Sky Sport & Spa combines fitness with therapy and nutrition. The first season we were treated to the sight of some of her more famous clients getting in shape.

In her facility, Jackie is the boss. No questions asked. She's large and in charge. She manages her trainers with an iron glove, but she's also a nurturer. She's a hands-on type of manager. I like the way she will step in and run a class. Her handling of the topic of eating disorders with one of her trainers this past week was wonderful. She was firm, but caring. It was also classy how she handled the death of one of her trainers, Doug, last season without exploiting it for ratings.

Season one of Work Out was my favorite. There was a line between the personal and the professional. While she handled her business admirably, her personal life was not as good. She was in an abusive relationship and allowed herself to be a victim. Mimi, her girlfriend, was crazy and Jackie was an enabler. I was happy to see her realize it and get out of that relationship at the end of the first season. Some of the scenes of Jackie and Mimi out in public were painful to witness.

I wasn't as crazy about the second season. Jackie allowed the line to be blurred. By entering into a personal relationship with one of her trainers, she opened the door to some of her decisions being questioned. While Rebecca wasn't as needy and abusive as Mimi, this still was not a healthy relationship for Jackie. Rebecca didn't exactly treat her significant other, Adam, with respect on The Amazing Race, and her relationship skills haven't done a 180, even though her sexual preference seems to have done so.

It's never a good idea to mix home and work, in my opinion, and I think Jackie is still paying for that in this new season. Even though her personal relationship with Rebecca has ended, the professional one remains. Rebecca is having a hard time adjusting to her change in status and it's making things uncomfortable for a few of the trainers. That relationship seems to also have affected the respect her older trainers show her sometimes. The professional line was blurred.

Jackie is now in a new relationship. So far, I haven't seen any dysfunction. I do worry, though, that Jackie doesn't seem to fare well without a partner. I'd love to see her working on herself and the issues she seems to have before jumping into another relationship. But maybe, this one will be good for her.

This season we also see Jackie's new baby, Sky Lab. It's an intensive retreat for overweight people to help them break their sugar addictions and make life-changing choices. It's opened new opportunities for Jackie to show her expertise and calling to help people get and stay fit. The third season of Work Out can be seen on Bravo TV Tuesday nights at 10 p.m. / 9 p.m. central.

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