Week six and the contestants are headed to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado! It sounds like fun and games, but they have to remember that at the end of the week there is still that dreaded weigh-in. To make matters worse, Alison tells them that not only are they competing as individuals this week, but there is also a double elimination. Whichever player loses the lowest percentage of weight will fall below a red line and automatically be sent home, and two other players will fall below the normal yellow line.
The contestants meet with many inspiring athletes, including J.R. Celski, who assist them through workouts all week, as well as challenges. The pop challenge consists of the players sliding side to side on slide boards 500 times. The top three winners get advantages in this week’s main challenge. Sam Poueu came in first, Melissa Morgan second, and Sunshine Hampton third. Their advantages were used in the main challenge, where each player had to run laps, and for each completed lap they got the opportunity to hit their opponent’s target. Once a player had been targeted five times, they were eliminated from the game. O’Neal Hampton was the last player standing and therefore won immunity.
Last chance workout was intense as the players worked with pairs figure skater, Rockne Brubaker, back in L.A. The weigh-in was intense as each player weighed in alone. Melissa Morgan fell below the red line after gaining one pound, and she was sent home immediately, while Darryl Hough and Cheryl George fell below the yellow line. For the first time this season, these two players are put through an elimination challenge to decide who will be eliminated. Wouldn’t be Biggest Loser style if they didn’t end the episode with a “to be continued…”. Not only are we left in suspense for this week, but Biggest Loser will not return until after the Winter Olympics on Tuesday, March 2.
While many thought the elimination of his twin brother, James Crutchfield, the first week on the ranch would be a hindrance to his performance, John Crutchfield actually used it to his advantage to push through to week five. He says as twins they pushed one another, but after James left and John had an emotional breakthrough with trainer Jillian Michaels, he was better able to focus on himself. He’s also glad the two didn’t have to compete against one another throughout the season.
His elimination was an emotional one, as John was considered one of the people who truly needed to be there, as his starting weight of 484 pounds made him one of the heaviest contestants this season. However, just as John persevered at the ranch without James, he’s now persevering at home without the ranch.
Hear our interview with John in which he talks about the importance of finding a fitness regimen that is “something fun that will last forever,” like his love for jiu jitsu, as well as how anymore he can’t even handle the taste of salt or sugar. Listen now, then continue learning about his journey.
It’s a dramatic start for week five at the Biggest Loser. The episode opens up with a frantic call from the medical trainer, Sandy. He calls production to let them know that Miggy is being sent to the hospital due to abdominal pain.
Then, it’s finally time for the yellow and blue teams to come back to the ranch! The blue team drops an impressive 63 pounds, while the yellow team drops an astounding 76 pounds. The yellow team secures a spot back on the ranch to compete with the other contestants for the grand prize of $250,000. They also gain immunity and this week’s only vote at elimination. (more…)
Week five of Biggest Loser nine is shaping up to possibly be the most intense episode yet this season. As two teams return to the ranch to vie for a chance to stay, another contestant is in an emergency situation and we’re teased that he will be going home permanently. Hearts will be pounding inside and out of the gym this week.
If you’re a fan of the show, there’s even more reason to tune-in to Biggest Loser this week. For the first time in the nearly ten-season history of the show, a former contestant is working behind the scenes to actually create this episode.
A member of season four’s remarkable black team, Hollie Self, who continues to eat, breathe and live this healthy, active lifestyle two years later, is a story editor and played a key role in producing this week’s episode. Hollie answered a few questions about her role with Biggest Loser, and she’ll return Wednesday in an exclusive video for DietsInReview.com to tell us about some of the behind the scenes action that went in to making this episode.
While only on the ranch a brief four weeks, Migdalia Sebren gladly walked out its doors in the week four episode of Biggest Loser. After a tumultuous week three in which she and Jillian Michaels nearly came to blows over Migdalia’s refusal to open up and work the process, Migdalia was clearly ready to continue her journey on her own at home. As she and her mom and teammate, Miggy Cancel, fell below the yellow line, Migdalia urged her fellow contestants to send her home to be with her husband, who has since shipped out to Afghanistan, and her two young children.
Migdalia spoke to us about how she finally reached that emotional breakthrough on her own and how she and her children are enjoying this healthy lifestyle process together.
Listen Now and then continue reading to learn more about Migdalia’s journey on and off the ranch.
“I went to the ranch to save my son’s life,” said Maria Ventrella, mother of the show’s heaviest contestant ever, Michael Ventrella. “Then I woke up and realized this is for [me], too!” The consummate caregiver had arrived on the ranch with goal, to help her son regain his health and his life, but in her brief three weeks on the show, Maria found new motivation for herself.
Following her elimination, Maria spoke with us about what life is like now that she has made herself a priority, stating that “I’m important, too!” She also explains how making simple substitutions in her cooking allows her to still enjoy many of her favorite foods. Listen now, and then continue reading to learn more about Maria’s journey.
Week three on the ranch! The cameras go home to visit with the blue team and yellow team as they prepare to come back to the ranch to weigh-in in just two weeks!
What happens when you send a 55-year-old woman with diabetes and a host of other weight-related issues to the Biggest Loser ranch? She gets inspired to refocus her life. Following an in-depth health screening with the show’s medical advisor, Dr. Huizenga, Patti Anderson says she realized “I have two feet in the grave.” She says the information about diabetes, blood pressure and other health problems was overwhelming, but made her more determined to live.
“I had no choice, it was time to really change my life,” she says.
After being eliminated in week two, Patti spoke with us about her renewed love of “shopping, cooking and eating,” healthy foods that is, and how her weight loss has become an all-inclusive family effort from which everyone is reaping the benefits. Listen now as Patti tells us more about the changes at home, then continue reading.
Week two on the Biggest Loser ranch is notoriously difficult for the contestants. After losing huge numbers the first week, it seems to be very hard to lose another big number a second week in a row. Bob and Jillian have their work cut out for them, but they obviously know what they’re doing. The trainers dig in to the personal lives of these contestants in order to bring any issues to the surface so that the players can get past them and become more successful in their weight loss.
It can’t be easy making it all the way to the Biggest Loser ranch and then seven days later becoming the game’s first casualty, but James Crutchfield has embraced it. As the first eliminated contestant of the new Biggest Loser season nine, James weighed in as the second-heaviest player at an astonishing 485 pounds. It’s a weight he says shocked him, but he wasn’t surprised by it.
Voluntarily separating from his twin brother, John Crutchfield, due to the limitations of a knee injury, James went home and has done remarkably well for only having been at the ranch a few days. Down more than 75 pounds (since the September elimination), he’s proving that it’s entirely possible to lose this kind of weight on your own at home. “All I really needed was a jump start,” he says, continuing that “You don’t have to have surgery or take drastic measures” to lose the weight.
We spoke with James and asked about the concerns he had for himself and other contestants at the ranch do to their sizes, and he explained more about the swimming workouts that have allowed him to regain strength and mobility.
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