NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” consistently transforms the lives of its contestants, but that doesn’t mean every one of them really wants to be on that ranch and do the necessary work to change their bodies. Last night we saw two instances of just that, despite what those contestants would tell you.
They began by reminding us that there were two teams, blue and yellow, that had been sent home on Day 1 for 30 days. At his point, it was halfway through the 30 days, and each team was working extremely hard to earn that spot back on the ranch.
Then it was time for the first challenge, and host Alison Sweeney describing the premise of the competition this week. It would be “teacher/student” week, meaning each team would consist of a teacher and a student, and that only the teachers would have access to trainers Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels, while the students would then be trained by the “teachers.” What’s more, only the weight of the students would count at the weigh in. To determine who would be who for each team, the challenge was to eat M&M’s and whoever devoured the most of them would get to pick the teachers and students. Only Sherry of the pink team and Michael of the white team moved forward to eat the M&M’s but they didn’t feel right about it. As a result, Sherry won by eating just two candies for a total of 10 calories. Her and daughter Ashley were then not thrilled about having to choose the teams, but it was one of those “be careful what you wish for” moments.
Anyway, here is how they chose–teachers were Andrea, Stephanie, Sam, Melissa, Cheryl, Migdalia, Michael, and Sherry; students were Darrell, John (her and Stephanie were teammates this week since their partners had been eliminated), Koli, Lance, Daris, Miggy, Maria and Ashley.
Then they all had a cooking lesson from celebrity chef Curtis Stone. After that, they showed Jillian training Migdalia, who was clearly angry about something. Jillian couldn’t get her to open up, so just kept pushing her buttons until finally Migdalia walked out and threatened to quit the show. After Jillian tried to use Miggy to convince Migdalia not to quit, Bob intervened and knew just what to say to get her to stay. Let’s all get our violins out!
Then there was one of the weirdest challenges the show has ever produced. Each team had to have one member take a large roll of ribbon the color of their team, and wrap it around various parts of a playground. Then, members of the other teams would have to unravel them. So some of them made their ribbons extremely difficult to unravel on purpose, and were shocked to hear Alison tell them that their teammates would be the ones unraveling their color. Snap! But to make it worse, the ones unraveling would be blindfolded and their teammate would have to guide them verbally. Yikes. The gray team won, and their main prize was immunity at the weigh in. Their secondary prize was to be able to switch out one team’s student and force the teacher to weigh in instead. They would announce that at the weigh in, meaning that no one could slack off. Well, in theory, anyway.
After the last chance workout, it was time to weigh in. The gray team announced that they were switching Michael and Maria of the white team, because they felt Michael had not been giving it 100% during the week, and of all the contestants, he should have been, because he started as the heaviest contestant in the show’s history. Michael was pissed, but we could surely ask him how bad he wants this.
The gray team weighed in first and though they had immunity, we know they are on the ranch for the right reasons. They lost 11 and 13 pounds, for a total of 24.
The green team of Miggy and Migdalia was next, and only Miggy’s weight would count, but they lost 8 and 7 pounds, respectively. Miggy’s 7 pounds was a 3.2% weight loss.
Next up, the black team. Andrea lost 7 pounds while Darrell lost 12, giving them 3.22% and putting them above the green team. Orange was next, and Cheryl lost 7 pounds while Daris lost 9, putting them below the yellow line for the moment with 2.9%.
Then came Stephanie and John, with Stephanie losing 7 pounds and John losing 14,or 3.10% and keeping them both safe for the week. The Red team was next, and Melissa lost just one pound while Lane lost 12, giving them a 3.57% weight loss. Remember that last week Melissa was playing the game because they had immunity, and she had gained a pound. So while she acted all shocked, Bob and Jillian called Melissa out, and she and Bob even got into a shouting match. If you do the math, Bob and Jillian were correct, because you can’t work out as much as they do and then put up numbers like that unless you are taking in like 7000 calories a day or something crazy like that. Sorry Melissa, we all know you’re full of crap too. Then again, it had to be risky considering the power of the gray team to switch them.
The white team was next, and Maria lost 4 pounds while Michael lost 10, which for him was only good for 2.08%. Of course, I don’t know what Maria’s percentage would have been, but I’m pretty sure 4 pounds would have also put them below the line if they had counted her weight instead.
Then the pink team was up, and Sherry lost 6 pounds while daughter Ashley lost 12, giving them a 3.48% mark and second place, and putting the white team below the yellow line.
So everyone would have to vote to send either Michael or Maria home. Maria pleaded with them all to send her home because Michael needed to be there more. I can see that, but they all hoped Michael saw it also. And while John was still pissed about Michael slacking off, and he voted for him to be sent home, everyone else voted for Maria, including the gray team, who told Michael they only wanted to teach him a lesson and make him appreciate why he was there.
Meanwhile, Maria went home and has so far lost 51 pounds, down from 281 to 230. What’s more, she has gotten over her fear of water, and is taking swimming lessons. Good for her!
Now, we have some good old-fashioned dissension brewing. How much will Migdalia and Michael want it now, or will they continue to be bitter? And how will Melissa get along with Bob and Jillian now they called her out for being a liar? I know the producers are licking their chops, and I have to admit it’s all pretty intriguing now!
See you all next week…
