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Despite its trim-state reputation, Utah again proved to be fertile ground for finding ample hopefuls to join NBC's "The Biggest Loser" reality TV show.

At least 500 would-be contestants showed up Saturday morning at the Maverik Center in West Valley City to audition for a berth on the show's 12th season, which airs next fall.

"It's the best way [to lose big pounds]," said Paul Smith, No. 159, "because they live, sleep it, do it all day long."

Smith, a Delta Air Lines customer support supervisor, was in a crowd of more than 30 people milling around a production assistant. They were waiting their turn to enter a room where they would meet a trio of casting directors looking for just the right mix of inexpressible qualities that would warrant calling someone back for a second look.

"There is no common thread," casting director Barbara Wulff said. "There is no cookie-cutter type. We've had everybody on the show."

In 11 seasons, the show has had young people, old people, healthy people, people so overweight they could barely walk. The only requirement: Contestants should need to lose at least 100 pounds.

Smith, 45, who lives in Midvale, meets that standard. Weighing 340 pounds, he wants to get back to the 180 pounds he weighed when he graduated from high school a quarter-century ago.

"I want to go into a restaurant and be able to fit into a booth without having to get a separate chair to sit on the side," he said.

Saturday's casting call was the third time that Biggest Loser has come to Utah. Its casting directors first arrived in 2006. They came back in 2010, and will be here until Thursday, talking to people who receive call-backs.

Phoebe Berrey hopes to be one of the lucky ones. Passed over last year, the 57-year-old Salt Lake City woman went to unusual lengths Saturday to get Wulff to notice her.

In Berrey's right hand was a sign reading, "Chubby Gal Seeks Chubby Gentleman for Workout Partner and Possibly Romance."

During her interview, she told Wulff her art has been carried to the moon (by astronaut James Irwin) and has hung on the walls of the White House, during the Clinton administration. Later, Berrey said she once dated Mike Lookinland, who played Bobby Brady on "The Brady Bunch" sitcom.

"I went to East High with Roseanne Barr," Berrey said. "She called me a fat slob in her book, Roseanne: My Life as a Woman, right there, on page 55."

If the mood at the auditions could be summarized in two words, they might be these: cheerful optimism. Gatekeeper Tyson Wyatt's shtick got plenty of laughs.

"Is everybody excited?" Wyatt asked.

"Yes!" the crowd roared.

"Who is the Biggest Loser?" he continued.

"Me!" the crowd answered.

Sporting an afro with tight, dyed-red curls, Ashley Burnell stood in the middle of the throng. The 24-year-old Kearns woman said she weighs 350 pounds. Her goal is to shed 200 pounds, and thus is willing to devote up to 3½ months of her life to "The Biggest Loser" if she becomes a contestant.

On Saturday, Burnell felt good. With a diet built largely on fast food, though, there are days when her body doesn't feel quite right.

"I need to lose the weight and feel better about myself and feel healthy," Burnell said. "I really, really want this. I think it will help my self-esteem." —

"Biggest Loser" loves Salt Lake City

Previous auditions held in Utah were in 2006 and 2010.

Three Utahns made it onto the current Season 11 show ­— Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler Rulon Gardner and his partner, Justin Pope. Denise Hill was eliminated in February.

Utah's first "Biggest Loser" contestant was Heather Hansen. She was on Season 3, in 2006.