Tag Archives: arthur wornum

It’s been a very long time since we’ve seen such a heart wrenching episode of Biggest Loser. We haven’t missed a show since season five began and this will undoubtedly go down as one of the most unforgettable episodes. There were few dry eyes as we watched Arthur Wornum walk in to the gym wearing a red shirt, a symbol that he’d been traded to the other team where he had no alliances; and should he end-up in the elimination room everyone knew he’d be sent home.

“I feel like I’m being dressed for my funeral” said a tearful Arthur as he walked on the scale one last time. Jillian Michaels was crying, “his girls” were crying on the black team, and most of us at home were crying big ‘ole alligator tears. And after last night’s elimination, Bob Harper sent Arthur a text message saying “I’m still in tears.”

However, you can’t cry for Arthur for too long. He’s resilient, and exudes a positivity and optimism that we wish was fully contagious like a virus. You’ll hear his high spirits in our post-elimination interview below. He tells us he has no animosity toward the red team, and knows he was victim to the “us v. them” mentality. He also shares how trainers Bob and Jillian have kept in touch since he left the ranch.

You can credit Bob and Jillian with a lot of Arthur’s success, but in the end it all goes to him. He lost 117 pounds, off of a starting weight of 507 pounds, while at the ranch. Working out six to eight hours a day at home, he’s now within 100 pounds of his goal.

“This isn’t to win the at-home prize, that’s the icing on the cake, this is to win my life back,” says Arthur about his weight loss. “For the first time in a long time, it’s within reach.” So close in fact that he’s confident that the at-home prize of $100,000 could very well be his. Don’t let a starting weight of 507 fool you, last year’s “heaviest contestant ever,” Michael Ventrella, became season 9’s Biggest Loser champ.

Arthur’s not taking the easy road. Part of that eight-hour-a-day workout, which he calls “my daily job,” is walking the five miles to the gym, and five miles home. In an interview with his loudest cheerleader, father and teammate, Jesse Wornum, he told us that Arthur has a tremendous support network at home, including his wife, mother, aunts, uncles and friends.

We have no doubt we’re going to see Arthur take this one all the way. And maybe even a little bit further!