Hi, I'm Jared, The Subway Guy,
and this is my story.
Please welcome Jared
who-lost-245-pounds-eating- Subway-sandwiches Fogle.
[narrator] Remember Jared from Subway?
He's inspired a lot of people.
[announcer] Give it up for Jared from Subway.
[crowd cheering]
[woman 1] When we met him, I had this image in my head of who he was.
He, like, helps children all around the world and...
He is someone you could look up to.
You've obviously been an inspiration to many people and to these kiddos.
All of those things are the complete opposite of who he truly is,
and that is a monster.
[woman 2] We were two of Jared Fogel's 14 victims.
[Rochelle] The story you are about to hear sounds crazy.
But I can promise you, it is all true.
As a journalist, I came to know Jared Fogle better than anyone.
Jared used his position as a celebrity to gain the trust of children.
And these kids know me as Jared, The Subway Guy.
I already had their attention.
[Rochelle] I was sure that he was an active pedophile.
And the public were at risk.
And that's when I became an undercover asset for the FBI.
[Jared speaking on recorder]
[Rochelle] Conversations with Jared just got darker and darker.
[Jared speaking on recorder]
[Rochelle speaking on recorder]
[Jared speaking on recorder]
He made me feel so much hatred towards him.
I couldn't even believe what was happening to me.
We were being watched 24/7.
I just knew things were just going to keep getting worse and worse.
There wasn't much I could do about that.
I was a child.
Fear is what kept us quiet for so long.
[Jared speaking on recorder]
Rochelle said, "Jared from Subway wants to see pictures
of my kids naked, and if I don't, he's going to kill me."
[Rochelle] I let this monster into our lives.
I was terrified.
But he needed to be stopped.
[Katie] I went to middle school, high school,
and I also went to two years of college with Jared when he was young.
Jared Fogle was shy, very nerdy, smart, and a bit of a loner,
probably because he was an outcast.
He started gaining weight really young, sixth, seventh and eighth grade.
Jared was probably the heaviest person in middle school,
and that includes adults too and I think it was probably between 250 and 300 pounds.
I just remember that by the time we got to high school,
he was morbidly obese.
For Jared to have that much weight on him,
it's like he had a target on his back.
[Scott] For lack of better words,
you couldn't miss him,
you know. I don't know.
I don't want to get myself in trouble,
but, you know.
But, yeah, I was... It was hard... hard to miss.
And you could tell that he knew.
I'd be willing to bet that he went home crying a lot.
It's almost like his childhood was stolen from him because
every day was kind of a battle.
Where is he going to sit for lunch?
[interviewer] Would you have sat next to Jared in the dining hall?
No.
No, that would have been social suicide.
I never saw him with anybody.
I can only imagine how lonely it was for Jared and just scary.
[Scott] I think every doctor would agree that a lot of your
early years mold you into who you are.
If you have a lot of insecurities
and a lot of people are ripping on those
all the time when you're a child,
I mean, that's got to mess with you in all kinds of different ways.
[Katie] I think the weight was a symptom of him checking out of life.
He kept just finding friendship in food.
He references that in the book and everything.
[Scott] "I overate to compensate for my social awkwardness.
I overate because I just plain love the taste of food.
But as I grew fatter and fatter, I felt more isolated.
Eventually, I felt that I didn't have any real friends
in the world except for one, food."
[Katie] He just let it take hold of him and he was going to die
young if he didn't get that weight off.
[people chattering]
[Katie] In 1999, I was in a Nutrition class sitting next to a guy
that I went to high school with. The instructor ended up
passing around the Indiana Daily student.
And when it got to the high school friend
that I was sitting with, he looks at it and he hits me
on the shoulder and says, "Katie, oh my gosh, it's Jared Fogle.
Look at this."
And we could not believe it because Jared was thin.
With the weight loss and everything,
Jared became a local celebrity on campus.
It was crazy.
[Mike] I don't think I'd ever read a story like the Jared Fogle story.
Ryan Coleman's article, the Indiana Daily Student,
was called "From Thick to Thin."
So that right there was an attention-getter.
To think that he lost 245 pounds in less than a year, um,
is astonishing, really.
And he did it with the strangest darn diet you've ever thought of.
The way Jared lost his weight was the compelling factor.
He lost weight eating subway sandwiches every day.
I believe Jared's formula was a small turkey sub in the afternoon
and then a veggie delight for the evening.
Then I got word, a film crew from Subway was going
to come testing for a commercial.
So being a journalist, I just thought I got to do this story.
I first interviewed him at his apartment and he was a little nervous,
but he just seemed like a decent fellow.
He was raised by a classic, typical family that had values.
Younger brother, younger sister.
His mother was a teacher.
His father was a doctor.
He had a good upbringing, as far as I can tell.
But Jared just basically talked about how...
[laughs]
...how depressing his life had been, really.
The more weight he gained, the more awkward he felt
and the more reclusive he became.
So I think Jared was very appreciative
of what the Subway diet did for him.
He wasn't this outcast anymore.
He wasn't 'The Elephant Man.'
And he went on to get a girlfriend
and he never envisioned that.
I was happy for him to see that he had a girlfriend
and then to see that he was getting married.
And I thought, you know, he'd turned everything around.
[narrator] Here is Jared Fogle.
You may have seen him on the news or a talk show.
He was inspired by Subway's great-tasting sandwiches.
Jared believes in an active lifestyle, including lots of walking.
- Hey, Jared. - Hey, guys.
[Mike] I remember it was pretty stiff, but I think
he was endearing just because he wasn't polished.
And you can tell that he wasn't an actor.
[narrator] Food for thought.
When I first saw a commercial for Subway, it was Jared Fogle on there.
I could not believe it.
To have a national Subway commercial
and you are the main person in it,
and then they're doing their branding around you, Jared Fogle,
like, nobody could have ever predicted this in a million years.
[newsreader 1] He's on the road 200 days a year,
sharing his weight loss story for Subway.
He quickly became an inspiration
and a successful pitchman for the company.
A regular guy who was morbidly obese is suddenly going
to be the spokesperson for a fast food chain.
I don't think he knew what he was in for at all.
I'm here with Jared Fogle, who we all know as The Subway Guy.
None other than Jared, The Subway Guy.
Jared, The Subway Guy.
[reporter 1] We're now joined in Indianapolis by Jared Fogle.
What do you do for a living?
Pretty much now I go all over the world with Subway.
[Katie] He got so, so famous.
It was like Madonna.
Everybody knew Jared, The Subway Guy.
I couldn't believe it.
He just absolutely blew up.
I think people resonated with Jared and loved him so much and he just rose
so high because he was the ultimate underdog in life.
Sir, I'd love to have your autograph.
Very good.
- Famous Jared. - How are you doing?
I never expected to be well known.
Dude, look a that commercial with the guy
that lost 400 pounds eating at Subway sandwiches.
[Jared] It's like I'm almost like in a fairy tale, like in a La La Land.
[Scott] When you see somebody really just take hold of their life
and just turn it like right to hell around, it is really inspiring.
Thanks for being the real deal...
You're welcome, whoever you are.
[Max] My name is Max Winitz.
I was a reporter and anchor with ABC7 in Sarasota, Florida.
Jared Fogle, aka The Subway Guy,
is no stranger to the Suncoast.
Here he is visiting Lakewood Ranch Medical Center,
followed by a stop at the restaurant that made him famous.
So in the mid-2000s, Jared would often visit Florida's Suncoast.
Specifically the Sarasota area.
[newsreader 2] Jared Fogle has made school visits just like this to talk
to kids about his story and why a healthy lifestyle is so important.
And on one of those days, he sat down for the first time
with Rochelle Herman, a local radio host.
[Rochelle] I came to know Jared Fogle better than anyone.
What I found out about him and who he really was made me feel
so much hatred towards him.
Some of the darkest memories that I have is I can't stop going
back to, um, what he put these kids through.
[Jared speaking]
Will take me for the rest of my life to process it.
Um...
[Jared speaking on recorder]
I'm sorry.
[Jared speaking on recorder]
My life before Jared,
it wasn't perfect.
I met my husband, Tom, in 1996.
After a few short months, Tom and I got married.
We had a great start.
My son, Thomas, was born in 1997.
And my daughter, Angela, was born in 1998.
They were very close, 16 months apart.
We just had a wonderful family.
But things just piled on as they do.
There was a lot of arguing.
And then after ten years, Tom and I went our separate ways.
After the divorce, I was starting on a new path as a single mom.
I really started building my career broadcasting as a radio talk show host
and as a TV show personality.
[Thomas] She became like a huge regional star.
As a kid, I definitely thought my mom was really cool because
we would always be going out and doing things
for the radio and TV shows she had.
I definitely looked up to my mother, like, quite a bit.
[Sean] My first impression of Rochelle...
She was a beautiful woman.
I mean, blond... blond hair who's not a sucker for blonds.
To know her as a lover,
she's the sweetest person in the world.
[Thomas] She has a big heart.
There's this thing called the turkey trolley that she would do
every Christmas and, like, deliver meals to people
who don't have any family members and stuff.
She's just a very caring person and wants to help people.
[Rochelle] Morning, everyone.
Thanks for joining us here for Health Beat of America.
[Rochelle] The purpose of my radio show was to educate the public.
One of the more common subjects was obesity in America.
In the fall of 2006, I was contacted by the American Heart Association
asking me to interview Jared Fogle, spokesperson of Subway, on the program.
It was a no-brainer, really, because he was so popular.
[reporter 2] Hey, Jared, what's cooking?
[indistinct]
[Max] He was somebody that America rallied behind.
Congratulations, Jared.
We love you, Jared.
Subway certainly recognized it.
I mean, they... they marketed the hell out of this guy.
A college junior named Jared Fogle weighed 425 pounds,
decided to make a change in his life, walked into a nearby Subway
and created his own unique diet.
It's a success story, and Americans love success stories.
[Rochelle] The kids, when they would see him, they were screaming.
It was like people seeing Michael Jackson.
That's really the way it was.
[on radio] Thanks for joining us. I'm...
[Rochelle] The morning of the broadcast that I had scheduled Jared
to be on was for radio, and following that,
there was a television version.
I was excited he was coming on the air,
but he was about 30 to 40 minutes late for his interview.
When Jared came in the studio,
we quickly went to commercial break.
He was very nice.
He was very cordial, and personable, but he had ego.
That, I believe is because of his fast flight to stardom.
He was a good interviewee.
What was the turning point in your life?
You said you were 20 years old.
Why not earlier on?
[Jared] I had to finally accept I had a problem, number one,
I had to finally, um,
go through several failed attempts of losing weight and,
you know, get to that point where I was just ready
to do what I had to do.
[Rochelle] Now, what has been the highest point in your life here?
Is it about motivating others?
[Jared] I think it is.
And I think especially kids more than anything. Trying to say,
"Hey, I expect you guys to take that self-responsibility
at a much younger age so you don't have to have the health issues that I had."
[Rochelle] Jared spoke about childhood obesity.
He spoke about building self-esteem.
It was always about his passion for helping the children.
[Jared] I never thought in a million years I'd ever be in a position
to motivate or influence somebody else, let alone in a positive way.
So this hopefully, the story can...
can... really people see, "If that Jared guy can do it, you know, I can do it too."
[Rochelle] After we finished with the segment, Jared was very flirtatious.
He told me how pretty I was.
I was flattered that he was interested in me,
whether it was sincere or just the way that he was.
I wasn't sure.
So following the interview, I expressed to him how excited
my daughter Angela was and that she wanted to meet him.
He came and met us and we took photos.
Jared is standing there and then he has my daughter, I believe, to his left.
Looking at it brings back horrible memories.
It's like putting your children in the mouth of a shark.
The filming of the television program I was to do with Jared
was held at the middle school here in Sarasota.
So Jared and I went on stage.
Nobody was in the auditorium except for my cameraman.
He went on his way to position his camera, and we sat down on the couch.
Jared started talking to me, telling me how pretty I was,
asking me if he could hold my hand.
I believe Jared had been going through a divorce.
It was obvious he was very interested in me.
That made me uncomfortable.
But I didn't say anything.
I just blew it off.
Just before the camera started rolling,
he slowly leans over and whispers in my ear...
...something so horrific.
It changed my life forever.
Jared leaned over,
just out of the blue, and tells me how hot
he thought middle school girls were.
I just shut down.
It was such a shock to me.
Did I really just hear what he just said to me?
And at that point, a teacher came in and brought
a couple of students and, um, to speak with Jared.
[producer] How did you make it through that interview?
I was struggling, to be frank with you, because my mind kept
deferring back to what he said to me.
I just wanted to get it over with.
So I was lying in bed following my day of events with Jared
and my mind is racing.
What was Jared Fogle?
Who was he?
It's not who he portrays himself to be.
I was thinking about the children
of all the schools that he was going to.
He could be a danger to our children.
It was just so alarming.
On the outside, he seemed friendly, caring, compassionate,
well-liked, somebody that people looked up to.
But was it been all a lie?
I didn't know what I was going to do.
I didn't know where it would lead me.
But I just wanted to find out the truth.
Please welcome Jared who-lost-245-pounds-eating- Subway-sandwiches Fogle.
[applause]
Amazing.
[whooping]
[Pam] My husband and I, we were sitting and watching TV
and we were watching Oprah Winfrey.
And I saw Jared on... on Oprah Winfrey telling his story.
It was a, it was a diet that I sort of invented.
I lived next to a Subway sandwich shop in Bloomington, Indiana.
[Pam] I saw his before and after pictures
and I was amazed.
I had a voila moment and I said, "Oh, my gosh, this is what I need to do."
And that day I picked up my first Subway sandwich, and the rest is history.
After six months, I had lost 55 pounds.
I always said that Jared was my hero at that time.
He was the inspiration for me to do that.
He changed my life.
I became somewhat of a... a local star.
And then a few weeks later, I got a call from the Subway Corporation
and they said, "Well, we'd like to fly you to California
and make a commercial with Jared Fogle, it's going
to be called "Friends of Jared."
So I landed in L.A.
There were five of us total,
the first commercial. My first impression to Jared was just
kind of down to earth, very easygoing.
He got along with everybody
and he was really helpful to all of us.
He says, "Your life after these
commercials is going to change."
He says, "Just be ready for it."
And it did.
[narrator] You remember Jared from Subway?
Turns out, he's inspired a lot of people...
♪ He's still looking good ♪
♪ To show you the way ♪
♪ For seven sandwiches with six grams of fat or less ♪
[Pam] My whole life changed for about a year.
Everywhere I went, people were honking at me and waving.
You know, being thrown in the limelight,
it's... it's pretty overwhelming.
I can't imagine what I dealt with for a year
that Jared went through for 15 years.
But one of the things that impressed me about him was that he was very humble.
He just wanted to help other children to lose weight.
I thought, what a great thing to do with your fame and fortune.
As I look back, I did not see a dark side in him.
I only saw the good side of him.
[Rochelle] To prove Jared was up to no good
and was a danger to our children...
They don't make the sandwiches.
[Rochelle] ...I needed to have evidence...
Subway.
...and that's what I sought out to acquire.
[producer] You are a radio talk show host,
you're a reporter.
This could potentially be an amazing and revealing story.
Mm-hmm.
[producer] To what extent did that play into your molestation?
I initially thought, "Wow, what a story."
I mean, that's my profession.
But my impulse was to act because
this was horrible what he said.
Not only the fact that I was a mother and had children of my own.
This is just I think any individual would think that there needs
to be a further look into Jared Fogle.
[producer] Why didn't you go to the police?
I didn't have any tangible evidence.
He could easily discount it and say I misheard.
Because of his status as a celebrity,
who would believe me?
So I started my own research.
I was searching to see if he was ever arrested for anything,
charged with anything, trying to find anyone who knew him
or knew of him, had interviewed him prior,
not wanting to give away what it was
that I was really investigating,
but there was nothing I could never find anything of a deviant nature.
At this point, I had my suspicions as anyone might
when they're told... made... someone makes a statement such as what Jared did.
But I didn't have proof.
So I knew I needed to get Jared on tape in his own words,
his own voice expressing his desires, his confessions,
and especially even his plans for children.
It wasn't the most thought-out plan,
but once the evidence was acquired.
I could hand over to the authorities.
But that's when the story becomes kind of crazy.
[tires screeching]
It was about six months after the first interview
that the American Heart Association arranged
a second interview on my programs with Jared.
And during a conversation I had surrounding his interview off the air,
I was able to obtain Jared's cell phone number.
That cell phone number was my connection to be able to talk with him
and see what else he had to say,
see what other deviant things he might want to share.
And so that's why I started recording him.
[phone ringing]
[Rochelle on phone] Hello?
[Jared on phone] Hey, there.
[Rochelle] We had just a few conversations early on.
I was very nervous.
[Rochelle speaking]
[Jared speaking]
[Rochelle speaking]
[Jared speaking]
[Jared on phone] Tomorrow will be...
[Rochelle] Jared was very cautious with what he would tell me
initially, so I had to take baby steps asking questions
not to frighten him away, but just to plant a seed.
"Oh, she's interested."
Um, you know, and just until he felt more comfortable with me
would he share more information.
[Rochelle speaking]
[Jared speaking]
[Rochelle speaking]
[Jared speaking]
[Rochelle] I gave the appearance
that I was somebody he could confide in.
[Rochelle speaking]
[Jared speaking]
[Rochelle] Throughout the phone calls,
there was a number of times that he would bring up the subject of children.
[Jared speaking]
[Rochelle speaking]
[Jared speaking]
He didn't get into any sexual nature of it,
but he deferred right to the subject of children.
He must have been thinking about it.
[Rochelle speaking]
[Jared speaking]
It wasn't enough.
So I agreed to meet him.
He had to be in West Palm Beach for Subway
and made the arrangements for me to come out there to see him.
It was important for me to meet with Jared in person.
When you meet someone in person, you feel closer.
You're more comfortable.
I admit that I was naive to a degree doing this initial launch
of an investigation on my own.
I didn't think about, what level of harm's way
that I would be possibly putting myself in.
I just did what I felt instinctual to do.
I had my Dictaphone in my handbag.
My hope was I am going to hopefully capture his confessions,
his ideas about children.
Perhaps this could be the evidence that I need
in order to put forward to the authorities.
So I arrived in West Palm Beach at the motel that Jared
was staying at, and I turned the Dictaphone ON.
I was very nervous walking to his room.
I didn't want to get caught with a recorder.
I wanted to appear to be as calm as possible.
And so I entered the room and he welcomed me.
He's... "Oh, thank you for coming.
It's really great to see you."
And I sat on the edge of the bed because he had his luggage
on the only chair that was in the room.
And he sat down on the bed next to me.
And he started to become very hands-on,
just as though he had a right.
I very calmly, just kind of pulled away.
I did not want to get physical with Jared.
I was thinking of every which way to let him know it wasn't okay.
Then he leans over to me and he tells me how hot
it would be if I put my hair in pigtails.
And would I do that for him?
[producer] How did you interpret that?
Looking like a child, a little girl.
With the comment that he had made at the school,
and now the comment about me putting my hair in pigtails for him...
No doubt in my mind that Jared was in fact a pedophile.
It made my skin crawl.
I was shaking and I was trying not to allow my sickening feeling
inside to be expressed on my face.
I had to get out.
As soon as he went into the restroom and closed the door,
I grabbed my bag, walked to my car as quickly as possible,
hoping to get in my vehicle before he even noticed I was gone.
As soon as I'm pulling out of the parking lot...
Jared calls me on the phone and asked me, "Where did you go?"
And I told him, "I'm so sorry.
I just received a phone call from my kids.
I have to get back right away.
We'll have to see each other again soon."
As I drove up the coast, I was sobbing, I was crying, I was shaking.
It didn't go as I had planned.
The Dictaphone didn't pick up as clear of a conversation as I had hoped.
I was frightened.
I was confused.
Do I continue on?
The driving force for me was moral obligation.
What he's portraying to the audience, to the children,
to his peers, to his handlers,
that's not him.
He's hiding behind a mask.
And I realized I could enjoy lots of great-tasting food without lots of fat.
[Rochelle] Any time I would see children, I wondered,
"Did they cross paths with Jared?"
"Could they possibly be a victim?"
That catapulted me on my mission to find out
more about what Jared was up to.
[Max] In the mid-2000s,
you cannot turn on your TV without seeing Jared Fogle.
Jared here with some hard-hitting little leaguers.
[all] Hi!
You know, there are over 12 million overweight kids in this country.
But exercise and...
- Eating right can help. - [Jared] Which is why...
[Pam] He made so many commercials.
And it was just really neat seeing how all the different
celebrities and everything that he is making commercials with.
- Less fat. - More meat.
Less fat.
Jared...
More meat.
More meat!
[Jared laughing]
- Subway. - Eat fresh!
[Max] Jared became a household name,
which led to roles in TV shows and movies.
He became an icon in American pop culture.
[Rochelle] Jared's schedule with Subway was jam-packed.
New York, L.A., Denver,
I can be... Even in Australia and New Zealand
now people know who I am.
Jared Fogle.
[audience cheering and applauding]
[Rochelle] Which was very helpful for me because the busier he was,
the less he would be trying to meet me in person.
So it made the most sense for us to have
a long-distance phone relationship.
[Thomas] My mum would always have some kind of recording
device on her that would allow her to record whatever was going on.
Like, something could just happen and she wanted to be ready.
[Rochelle speaking]
[Jared speaking]
[Rochelle] I was there to gain his trust and to get information.
And eventually, he would tell me his deepest and darkest secrets.
[Rochelle] Jared was lonely during his travels.
I think that I was an escape from his public persona,
and Jared felt he could be himself around me.
That's what he needed.
[Jared speaking]
[Rochelle speaking]
[Jared speaking]
[Rochelle laughs]
I had to play a role with Jared that I was interested
in him personally, romantically.
This was, in essence, a honey trap.
I was going to use his flirting with me,
interest in me to my advantage... Absolutely.
Why would I not?
That was my leverage.
[Rochelle speaking]
[Jared speaking]
[cell phone ringing]
[Rochelle] The next step was to bring him to a point of comfort
where he would share his innermost desires when it came to children.
[Rochelle speaking]
[Jared on phone] I am back to my hotel.
[Rochelle on phone] You are.
[Rochelle] As time went on, he was opening up more and more to me.
[Rochelle speaking]
[Jared speaking]
[Rochelle speaking]
[phone ringing]
[beeps]
[Rochelle] Jared called me incessantly.
I mean, there's times that he called me 15, 20 times a day.
I did my best not to take any calls from Jared while my children were present.
Unfortunately, sometimes they were there,
but I would make certain they were out of earshot.
[Thomas] When these calls would happen,
my mom would sometimes disappear into her bedroom.
She would be very, like, secretive and quiet about it.
She wouldn't want me and my sister to know.
Clearly, it felt like something was going on
and something was wrong.
[Rochelle] It was mid-late 2007
when I received a phone call from Jared.
He just started to open up.
He was very much wanting to go to fetish clubs.
[Jared speaking]
[Rochelle speaking]
[Jared speaking]
[Rochelle] I asked him pointed questions.
I wanted to find out his true desires.
[Rochelle speaking]
[Jared speaking]
[Rochelle speaking]
Suddenly, he drops a bombshell on me.
[Jared speaking]
[Rochelle speaking]
[Jared speaking]
[Rochelle speaking]
[Jared speaking]
[Rochelle speaking]
[Jared speaking]
It's haunting.
When I heard Jared specifically state getting a child nine or ten years old,
I was terrified.
I did not doubt for a minute if given the opportunity,
he would not hesitate to take that child.
At that point, I knew this was beyond anything that I could
or even should continue on my own.
I was going straight to the FBI.
I just had no idea...
that I would be putting myself or even my children in great jeopardy.