The food challenges are always interesting on NBC’s “The Biggest Loser.” Contestants can indulge (or not) to obtain some sort of prize that will give them an advantage in the game. This week it was cupcakes, but the prize was the biggest potentially in the history of the show. Finding the one-pound advantage card under the cupcake would be one thing, but then they could hold it over and let the card appreciate in value, giving that person two pounds next week, three pounds the following week, and up to eight pounds. Wow. But as some of the contestants pointed out, doing so would also put a target on that person’s back. Very true. So most of them didn’t even attempt it, but Adam and Rick did as well as Elizabeth, and Adam won, but not after ingesting about 1300 calories worth of cakes.

Then host Alison Sweeney introduced celebrity chef Curtis Stone, who lo and behold had made some of the cupcakes–100-calorie versions of higher calorie cakes. Most of the women were swooning over Curtis as they do every season. Then they showed Aaron buddying up to Adam, and that’s good for Adam who will now need all the friends he can get.

Then Alison announced that this week there would be both a yellow and a red line. Whoever fell under the red line would go home automatically, and those under the yellow would compete in a challenge again. When the contestants then told this to Bob and Jillian, as well as tell them about the cupcakes, they were both surprisingly calm. In previous seasons, the thought of anyone indulging like that would set these two off, but not now…they have come to accept the “game,” but then again…were they holding their anger back for the gym for Adam and the rest of the cupcake eaters?

During the workout, Elizabeth kept using her asthma as an excuse with Jillian, and Jillian would have none of that. Then they showed Frado keeping a low profile in the gym, until Bob found him and started working him even harder. And Mark wrenched his back.

Then (big surprise) came the middle of the week weigh-in again. Here were the results:

Mark -8
Elizabeth -6
Patrick -10
Lisa -7
Aaron -12
Rick -9
Jesse -8
Burgandy -5
Ada -10
Jessica -7
Brendan -11
Frado -20 (remember he had immunity last week and lost just 3)
Adam -10
Sophia -2

But as Sophia was crying the whole time she was weighing in, it was almost like she threw herself under the bus to go home on purpose. And so home she went, falling below the red line and keeping Mark on the ranch.

There were six below the line then: Mark, Elizabeth, Lisa, Jesse, Burgandy and Jessica. Mostly women again! But Frado, with the highest percentage of weight loss, was able to save one of them this week.

Jillian pulled Ada aside, because despite losing 10 pounds and just killing it on the scale each week, she kept considering those losses to be failures. Turns out her parents telling her she was a failure most of her life contributed greatly to this. Then Bob invited the six below the line to his house for a vegan dinner, prepared in all likelihood by Bob’s private chef.

After that, Dr. H was working with Burgandy and it turns out she has tendinitis in her leg, and has to wear a brace. That means only walking as far as working out. Yikes. Frado then used his save with Jessica, who was the closest one to being above the yellow line.
And with Burgandy not being able to compete in the challenge, she was automatically up for elimination. Fair? Not really, but oh well.

So the competition was between Mark, Elizabeth, Lisa and Jesse. They had to roll giant rolls of carpet across a big open space, and then run back and hit a bell to win. Hmmm….not exactly fair to Lisa and Elizabeth with those big beasts in Mark and Jesse…though Jesse is the smallest dude and Mark has a bad back. But big surprise…Mark was first and Jesse second, leaving it between Elizabeth and Lisa. Lisa was third, putting Elizabeth up for elimination.

So it was between Burgandy and Elizabeth, and after splitting the first two votes, Burgandy received three in a row and was sent home. So this week Sophia and Burgandy went home, and Sophia has gone from 272 pound to 225; and Burgandy from 231 to 180. Not bad!

But they are dropping like flies now, and down to 12. And it’s only October 13. Aha…..but someone will be entering the ranch next week….remember those contestants from the first episode who lost those challenges? They will be back, or at least compete again to earn a spot on campus.

Well, they sure have succeeded at making this season interesting, haven’t they? Thanks for reading folks, and see you next week….

Last night’s “Biggest Loser” finale on NBC was a true showdown of four contestants who really deserved to be there. No real game play was evident this season, anyone who started to play the game was swiftly eliminated by everyone else. Anyway, this was a live event, but they went through and showed each of their collective journey, especially how they all had to weigh in in front of their hometown friends and family at the start. This included the ubiquitous showing of Daris saying “I will do everything I can to make you proud,” in which he sounds like an overweight robot. I mean, the producers of this show love that clip so much, that you could seriously create a drinking game around every time they show it.

Anyway, host Alison Sweeney brought out Daris and Koli, because America held the vote that would send one of them to the Top 3 and one of them back into the “at home” competition. You may remember that Daris slipped last week, overeating when he was home and training for the marathon. I thought for sure Koli would win based on that, but America had sympathy and voted for Daris. Maybe it was all a ploy by Daris? Hmmm. But either way, it would be Daris vs. Ashley and Mike for the title of The Biggest Loser. And Koli, who came out all fired up, was reduced to almost whimpering.

Then after showing former winners such as Danny, Bill and Erik, it was time for one of last season’s fiercest competitors, Shay, to weigh in for her Subway challenge. You may remember Subway enlisted her to win $1000 for every pound she lost from December up until now. Shay looks great, and she lost another 52 pounds for $52K! But then Jared from Subway came out and challenged Shay again, saying she and him would train for a marathon, and when completed, Subway would double that money. Wow. But that was awesome.

Okay, time to what we came here for. To see everyone and how much weight they’d lost. Here is how it broke down:

Cherita lost 91 pounds, down from 277 to 186
Victoria lost 136 pounds, down from 358 to 222
Sherry lost 99 pounds, down from 218 to a stunning 119 (current leader)
Maria lost 114 pounds, down from 281 to 167
Patty lost 73 pounds, down from 243 to 170
Stephanie lost 99 pounds, down from 264 to 165
James lost 128 pounds, down from 485 to 357
John lost 149 pounds, down from 484 to 335
Melissa lost 90 pounds, down from 233 to 143
Lance lost 128 pounds, down from 365 to 237
Migdalia lost 52 pounds, down from 265 to 213
Miggy lost 91 pounds, down from 240 to 149
O’Neal lost 159 pounds, down from 389 to 230

Sunshine lost 114 pounds, down from 275 to 161
Darrell lost 189 pounds, down from 413 to 224 and he took the lead from Sherry
Drea lost 84 pounds, down from 298 to 214
Cheryl lost 76 pounds, down from 227 to 151
Sam lost 142 pounds, down from 372 to 230
And finally Koli lost 215 pounds, down from 403 to 188, and he took the at-home prize from Darrell, with a 53.34% weight loss

Koli was asked by Alison what he was thinking, and he said, “I just want to go home with my family.” Yikes…..that’s all he could muster? He’d just won $100K!

So then it was time for the big showdown between Daris, Ashley and Mike. Daris went first, and lost 168 pounds, down from 346 to 178 for 48.55%. Ashley was next and lost 183 pounds, down from 374 to 191 for 48.93%. Both of them looked amazing, as did Mike, who went next. Mike started out as the heaviest contestant ever, at 526 pounds. He struggled a lot this season, but kept dropping weight like crazy. Mike lost 264 pounds, down from 526 to 262, for a 50.19% weight loss and the title of the Biggest Loser! Now this was a true Biggest Loser champion, the kind of person who can inspire millions of people. But until now, I didn’t realize that Koli had lost more percentage of weight than Mike, and if America had voted him into the Top 3, he would have won. Ouch, that has to sting a bit. But I like having Mike as the champ, and he won fair and square based on the rule of the game.

Now let’s hope Mike keeps that weight off and keeps going, because he still has a ways to go. But he sure deserved to win and should enjoy it. We’ll be on a conference call with him today so look for some excerpts from that interview later this week. Thanks for reading this season!

We’re really getting down to the wire on NBC’s “The Biggest Loser,” and last night the final four of Ashley, Daris, Mike and Koli were sent home for 30 days. During that time, they would hang out with family and friends and get back to a normal or semi-normal lifestyle. Of course, they would go back to the ranch to weigh in one last time, after having run or walked a full marathon — just like in the last two seasons.

They each got to weigh in in front of their home crowds, just as they did before they left for the ranch 5-6 months ago. Daris lost 151 pounds, Ashley 143, Koli 172, and Mike a whopping 204. Awesome.

As they started the race, Daris took off and Koli was a bit behind him. Ashley and Mike decided they would team up and walk/run together. Along the way, former contestants were on hand to pair up with each current contestant–Matt Hoover with Daris, Sione Fa with Koli, Ali Vincent with Ashley, and Mike Morelli with Mike. Daris, despite a bum knee, finished the race in 4 hours, 2 minutes, a Biggest Loser record. Koli was second and Mike and Ashley, despite walking a good part of it, finished just 20 minutes behind Koli, in the 6:30 range.

At the weigh in, two of them would be guaranteed a spot in the finale, and two of them would fall below the yellow line and have America decide their fate. Mike went first and lost 23 pounds, bringing down to 299. It was a 7.14% weight loss. Koli was next and lost 13 pounds, or 5.63%. Ashley lost 18, or 7.79%, and she was guaranteed a spot in the finale and at the title. Koli fell below the line, however. Then Daris was next, and he GAINED two pounds. Yikes. He said something about training for the marathon and forgetting to eat right. Bob Harper went ballistic, saying something else had to have happened.

Sure enough, Daris admitted that he didn’t eat properly during that 30 days. Every night he would binge, just like he used to do before he got really big. He must have thought running the marathon would negate that, but all it did was make him not lose what he should have lost.

So Mike and Ashley are guaranteed a shot at winning it all. Meanwhile, Koli and Daris had to plead their case to America. Honestly, I wanted Daris to win or at least have a shot at winning, but I’m extremely disappointed in him, and felt like Koli deserved a shot more than Daris did at this point. Sad, but true.

And as for who will win, I’m going with Mike. He came in as the heaviest contestant ever, and I think he’s got what it takes to win. And he will make an excellent example of a champion. We’ll see though…you surely can’t rule out Ashley, or even the other two at this point. But I think America will let Koli have that third spot.

What do you all think?

Last night’s episode of “The Biggest Loser” began with Ashley, Mike and Daris saying that they were now the larger alliance with Koli and Sunshine now not having their teammates there. Koli was pissed, saying they should have voted Mike off because he was a way bigger threat than Sam. But then host Alison Sweeney delivered the news that would send a shock wave through the final five–there would be no yellow line this week, only a red line. That meant whoever fell below that line would be going home this week. And what a great way to break up the alliances and thwart the game play!

Two former show champs were back on hand to mentor the contestants this week–Helen Phillips from two seasons ago and Erik Chopin from Season 3. Helen still looks great, but Eric, as most of us already know, re-gained most of his weight back before losing 70 pounds and getting back on track.

Then the challenge this week was a repeat challenge from a couple seasons ago, when they had to carry the weight they’ve lost so far up and down hills of sand and drop each week’s weight that they’ve lost so far. The winner would win $10K….damn! Daris won by a lot, even shattering Tara’s time from two seasons ago. But then Alison offered Daris a deal–trade in the $10K for a one pound advantage this week, and Daris wisely chose the 1 pound.

Then they had a bit of product placement, with Bob Harper taking the crew shopping with Cowboys’ QB Tony Romo, who was pimping his line of workout gear. But Romo stayed with them to work out, which was pretty cool (Go Giants!).

After a bunch of whining and crying from Mike, and videos that showed each of their journey’s thus far, and a last chance workout, it was time for the big weigh in. Alison announced that the person with the highest percentage of weight loss this week would win Curtis Stone coming to their house to cook for them.

Mike went first and lost a whopping 12 pounds, bringing his weight loss this season to an unreal 204 pounds, down from 526 to 322. Koli was next and lost 13 pounds, amazing considering he lost 15 last week! Daris was next and lost 10, making it 11 with the one pound advantage, and a 5.37% weight loss. Ashley was next and lost 7 pounds, putting her at the bottom and making Mike safe along with Koli and Daris. It was down to Sunshine, and she lost only 2 pounds, sending her home immediately and sending Ashley to the final four.

So that’s it…all that trash talk from Sunshine about making the final four was bogus. It’s now down to four very legitimate contenders–Mike, Koli, Ashley and Daris. They have lost 204, 172, 143 and 151 pounds, respectively and are all very, very strong.

Next week they will go home for 30 days and then the two with the lowest percentage of weight loss will vie for that third and final spot in the finale, with America voting, as they’ve done the last few years. It should be interesting…but I still like Mike or Daris to win it all. I respect Koli and what he’s done, but he’s annoying. And I just don’t think Ashley has the drive of everyone else. We’ll see….what do you all think?

On NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” last night, yet another alliance was about to be broken up. More on that in a minute…but first, it was makeover week, and that prompted each of the six remaining contestants to hoot and holler like crazy, especially big Michael. They each had $1000 to spend on clothes and had a limo pick them up, with some dude from a show on Bravo called “Shear Genius” making them over. And he did a great job, actually.

Sunshine looked like a chunky version of Beyonce….Koli looked like a Hawaiian Buddy Holly…Ashley lost a ton of midriff…Sam looked like a boxer…Daris looked completely different, and Mike just looked really good. Really, they all did. Then they were treated with a private performance by Ashanti…and we all were like, “Who?” I mean, she’s won at least one Grammy but what has she done lately? I’m just saying.

Then it was time for the Jacob’s Ladder challenge, in which they had to climb up said ladder over a 10 foot drop into a pool. Whoever stayed up the longest would win a 1 pound advantage at the weigh in, and whoever was the first in the water would have a 1 pound penalty. Ashley dropped in after 3 minutes, but Koli and Daris were at it for 2.5 HOURS. Holy crap. But eventually Daris gave way, and I think it’s because he had to pee….I mean, he asked if peeing from up there was considered peeing in the pool, so that’s what I think anyway. Of course, Bob Harper was pissed at Daris for giving up when he could have held on longer. Whatever, Bob!

After the last chance workout that we forwarded through, it was time for the weigh in. Koli went first and lost a whopping 15 pounds! With the extra pound that gave him 16. Then again, remember last week he had immunity and we thought he threw the weigh in by losing just 1 pound? Hmmm. Michael was next and lost 9, and so did Daris. Sunshine also lost 9 and then Sam just 2 pounds. That put Sam below the line and well below everyone else percentage-wise. Ashley lost 10 pounds, or 9 with the one pound penalty.

So it was down to Sam and Michael. Sam has already reached his goal weight, the first ever to do that on the ranch. But Michael started out at 526 pounds, and he’s lost almost 200 but still has a ways to go and could be considered a bigger threat. But Mrs. Mike pointed out the alliances…Koli and Sunshine would vote for Michael and Ashley and Daris would vote for Sam, making it a tie and thus sending Sam home because he lost the lowest percentage of weight. And that’s exactly what happened! You go, Mrs. Mike!

Sam, meanwhile, has reached his goal and is down from 395 pounds to 236…he’s lean and fit and knows we all know he is dating Stephanie…and they are now living together in Los Angeles. Good for them! Another Biggest Loser couple that will soon be making babies.

So we’re down to five and there are no more multiple team members left….it’s Daris, Michael, Sunshine, Koli and Ashley. Any of them could win, but I’m still saying it will be Michael or Daris. Let me know what you think in the space below, and see you all next week!