Biggest Loser: Couples – Week One
Aired 1/6/09
Season 7 began with trainers Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels looking straight into the camera and challenging us all to take action this time around. Bob stated that it doesn’t do any good to watch their show while eating ice cream. We were informed that this would be the “biggest” season (literally) of BL ever with 11 couples weighing over 3.5 tons. This group features the oldest couple, the youngest man, the heaviest woman and the heaviest contestant ever. The show gathered the 22 people at a hotel in Hollywood so host Alison Sweeney could tell them whether or not they had made the show. I’m guessing that after being flown out to LA and getting dressed up and made up for the cameras, they had a pretty good idea that the answer was yes. It was and the group was ecstatic. Let’s meet the newbies:
Silver Team: Carla (36) & Joelle (41). They are best friends with the motto “We’re not out to destroy ya – just out to eliminate ya!”
Blue Team: Sione (29) & Filipe (27). They are cousins whose parents are from the south pacific island of Tonga where being heavy is part of the culture and even encouraged.
Orange Team: David (23) & Daniel (19). They are best friends who are afraid of dying young.
White Team: Estella (63) & Jerry (63). They are a married couple that wants to get control over their lives so they can be there for their grandchildren.
Black Team: Dane (28) & Blaine (28). They are cousins with a lot in common. Both are married and have 3 kids. Blaine’s wife is expecting their fourth child. They want to get healthy for their families.
Pink Team: Shannon (29) & Helen (48). They are a mother and daughter who have always talked about going on a diet together but could never really get started.
Brown Team: Ron (54) & Mike (18). They are a father and son team. Ron wants to do whatever he can to help his son Mike succeed. There is another overweight son back home and Ron & Mike want to learn how to help him as well.
Green Team: Laura (24) & Tara (23). They are best friends and former plus-size models. It seemed pretty clear early on that Tara was the driving force behind this team.
Red Team: Nicole & Damien (31). They are the cute-as-a-button engaged couple. Nicole seems to be a lady who doesn’t tell her age because they didn’t show it on the show and it’s the only one not listed at the NBC website. She stated that she’s always been able to fake that things were ok with her weight but, now that she’s found the man of her dreams, she doesn’t want to fake her life anymore.
Purple Team: Cathy (48) & Kristin (28). A mother/daughter team although no one would need to tell you that. I love their matching haircuts and highlights.
Yellow Team: Mandi (30) & Aubrey (28). I had to look their ages up on the website but I would have guessed that Aubrey was the older sister, not Mandi, based on their personalities.
The group rode a bus onto the campus and met up with Alison in the gym. Filipe said, “Walking into that gym, I was so excited. I’m actually here at the 24 Hour Fitness gym where Bob and Jillian kill people.” Alison informed them that they were about to take part in their first workout – alone. Not having the trainers around would really test what they were made of. Of course, Bob and Jillian were watching on hidden cameras and were both horrified by what they saw. Jill described it as “chaos”. Finally they went to the gym to rescue them and were met with shrieks of delight. This greeting led to the much promoted moment of Jerry passing out. I assumed that moment would take place after a strenuous workout but it didn’t. One of the staff people from the show took care of him until the EMTs arrived. They ended up taking him to the hospital to be monitored. Bob described it as one of the scariest things he’d ever seen at the BL house. Jerry’s wife Estella said it made it all very real. It wasn’t a question anymore of “if” she’d lose him. It was a question of when. Bob told the group that they just had a glimpse of their future BUT they were at a place where all their dreams could come true.
To divide the group into teams, Alison announced that Jillian and Bob would pick the first duo to join their them. Then those two teams would pick the next to join and so on. In an interview segment Daniel said, “Someone’s going to be last. We’ve all been there. We’ve all been the fat kid in gym class. And now, we’re a bunch of fat kids at a really fat gym class and someone’s gonna get picked last.” The teams broke down as follows:
Jillian
White (Estella & Jerry)
Black (Blaine & Dane)
Green (Laura & Tara)
Orange (David & Daniel)
Yellow (Mandi & Aubrey)
Bob
Silver (Carla & Joelle)
Blue (Sione & Filipe)
Red (Nicole & Damien)
Pink (Shannon & Helen)
Brown (Ron & Mike)
This left Purple as the last team. Kristin said in an interview segment that she was used to being rejected by certain groups of people but being rejected by her own kind hurt. To the group she said that, with her mom by her side, they could do anything. Ali told her their reward for showing that kind of pride was to pick who they wanted as their trainer. They picked Bob.
First Weigh In
White: Estella weighed in at 242. Jerry was still at the hospital at this point but we later found out that he was weighed there and was starting at 369 for a combined weight of 611 pounds.
Pink: Helen weighed 257 and Shannon weighed 283 for a total of 540 pounds.
Purple: Kristin weighed 360 and Cathy weighed 293 for a total of 653 pounds. At that point, Kristin was the heaviest woman ever on the show by 62 pounds.
Yellow: Mandi weighed 263 and Aubrey weighed 249 for a total of 512 pounds.
Red: Nicole weighed 269 and Damien weighed 381 for a total of 650 pounds.
Green: Laura weighed 285 and Tara weighed 294 for a total of 579 pounds.
Blue: Filipe weighed 364 and Sione weighed 372 for a total of 736 pounds.
Black: Blaine weighed 365 and Dane weighed 412 for a total of 777 pounds.
Brown: Mike weighed 388 and Ron weighed 430 for a total of 818 pounds.
Silver: Carla weighed 379 and Joelle weighed 309 for a total of 688 pounds. That made Carla the heaviest woman ever on the show.
Orange: Daniel weighed 454 and David weighed 393 for a total of 847. Daniel was the heaviest contestant ever and together they were the heaviest team in the show’s history.
Product Placement Alert One: The Bodybugg. These are the armband things that all the contestants wear. They monitor the amount of calories a person is expending each day and allows them to upload that data onto a website that will compare it with the number of calories they are taking in.
Jerry came back to the ranch that night. The doctors told him that he passed out because his blood pressure dropped. He admitted to being a bit scared when he found out Jillian was going to be his trainer!
Challenge
The challenge took the group to a bridge in downtown LA. Alison told them it represented the bridge between their two lives – the unhealthy one and the healthy one. On the bridge there was a mound of 250,000 pounds of sand. The teams had to run across the bridge, over the sand, and get to their team flag at the other end. Once both team members got to the flag, they had to run back. The top 5 teams from the first race would compete again and the top 2 from that heat would go on to race for the prize – immunity at the weigh in. After the first heat the top five were Yellow, Black, Blue, Green and Red. After the second heat the top two were Yellow and Black. Both teams looked exhausted as they began the final race. Blaine led the whole way with Mandi not far behind. The real race was between Dane and Aubrey. They both struggled over the sand on the way back with Dane slightly ahead. As they approached the finish line Aubrey kicked in the reserves and almost caught up to Dane but he managed to get to the finish line about one step ahead of her.
Next up for the group was the part I would most dread if I were on this show – getting the results of Dr. H’s physical. Ron admitted to being “nervous as hell” about his and Mike’s meeting. They showed Ron a 3D image of his abdomen that highlighted the fat in and around his organs. Ron had a gastric bypass done a while ago but ended up gaining weight after the surgery. Dr. H said that just proved that surgery isn’t the panacea people think it is. Shannon & Helen were up next. Helen smokes and Dr. H said her biological age was 60 as opposed to her chronological age of 48. Both she and her daughter dissolved into tears at that news. Blaine & Dane also saw a 3D image of themselves that showed how their lungs are being squeezed by the fat and how their livers are now oversized.
Product Placement Alert Two: Brita. While preaching the benefits of staying hydrated, Jill showed Dan & Dave the Filter for Good bottles, the Brita faucet mount and the Brita pitcher.
The first Last Chance Workout gave everyone a chance to prove themselves to Bob and Jillian. Bob said he’s discovered that Joelle does a lot of talking but not a lot of working and that was something he was going to have to change. Jillian was worried about Laura because she felt Laura actually needed more work mentally than physically to deal with her weight problems. Earlier in the show Jill had commented on Laura’s tendency towards dramatics. Tara pledged that she wasn’t going to let Laura fail.
Weigh In
Alison began the weigh in by announcing that there would be no eliminations that evening but Bob and Jillian knew there had to be a catch. Ali reiterated that there wouldn’t be an elimination - but 9 of the contestants would be going home. Each team would weigh in and the team with the highest percentage of weight lost would be above the yellow line and safe. Blaine & Dane were safe no matter what because they won immunity in the challenge. The other 9 teams that fell below the yellow line would have to pick one member to go home. Tears started to flow immediately. I have to say, this twist seems cruel. I’m sure none of them expected 9 people to get kicked off the first week. The Black Team weighed in first and Blaine lost 14 pounds and Dane lost 20.
Silver Team: Carla lost 11 pounds and Joelle lost 13 for a total of 3.49%.
Orange Team: Daniel lost 30 pounds and David lost 16 for a total of 5.43%. Jillian commented on how happy she was to see a big number for Daniel because he has a long way to go and needed to see success.
Red Team: Nicole lost 18 pounds and Damien lost 17 for a total of 5.38%.
White Team: Jerry lost 25 pounds and Estella lost 9 for a total of 5.56% putting them in first place.
Blue Team: Filipe lost 17 pounds and Sione lost 23 for a total of 5.43%.
Yellow Team: Mandi lost 12 pounds and Aubrey lost 13 for a total of 4.88%.
Purple Team: Kristin lost 19 pounds and Cathy lost 12 for a total of 4.75%.
Pink Team: Helen lost 12 pounds and Shannon lost 13 for a total of 4.63%.
Green Team: Laura lost 13 pounds and Tara lost 21 for a total of 5.87% moving them into first place.
Brown Team: Mike lost 22 pounds and Ron lost 32 for a total of 6.6%. Alison informed them that Ron’s 32 pounds was the most anyone has ever lost in a single week. That was amazing!
Once the dust settled, Alison informed the group of the next twist in the game. After 30 days of being at home, the nine sent away would be able to come back to the ranch IF their teammate was still in the game. It would seem that the key now would be to keep the strongest team member at the ranch. Lots of tears were shed as we watched them all try to decide who was going home.
The nine teams gathered in the elimination room with Alison to reveal their decisions. Pink decided to send Shannon home. She had expressed fear that if her mom Helen went home she’d fall back into bad habits like smoking. The Blue Team opted to send Sione home. Green sent home Laura because they felt Tara was the strongest player. Laura left feeling insecure about her ability to continue on her own. Yellow chose to send home Aubrey which was surprising after we saw Mandi in tears saying that she didn’t want to be there by herself. In the end Aubrey said that Mandi was the stronger competitor. Red sent home Nicole who seemed confident and determined to succeed. Orange chose to have David leave because he knew Daniel would be able to get him back. Silver had Carla go home but she didn’t hesitate to call out Joelle before departing. Carla said that if Joelle doesn’t manage to stay at the ranch she’ll have to answer to her. This was going to be a test of their friendship. Ok then. No pressure on Joelle. Purple sent home mom Cathy with Kristin saying that any time she feels like leaving the gym, she’ll think about her mom and keep working. The White Team sent home Estella and poor Jerry already looked lost without her.
Next week: Bob has a mega meltdown and Jillian loves it!
Bonus scenes and profiles of all the couples can be found at NBC’s website here:
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