On “The Biggest Loser” there is always a second chance. The two teams that were eliminated in week one’s bicycle challenge − the Blue team’s Cherita and Vicky and Yellow team’s O’Neal and Sunshine − returned at the start of week five to fight for a place at the ranch and the opportunity to compete for the grand prize of $250,000 and the title of Biggest Loser.
But before they stepped on the scale, the Blue and Yellow teams had to get past trainers Jillian and Bob, who put them through a last chance workout. “I’ve never worked this hard in my life,” O’Neal confessed. And it was only the beginning!
At the special weigh-in, mother-daughter team Cherita and Vicky, wearing Blue, posted terrific numbers, losing 24 and 30 pounds respectively for a total 9.92 percent loss. However, Yellow’s O’Neal and Sunshine did even better: Sunshine dropped 25 pounds in one month and her dad O’Neal lost a whopping 51 pounds, giving the Yellow team the victory with an 11.45 percent loss. “We did not stray,” O’Neal said after securing the win as well as immunity in the week’s next weight-in. “There was no doubt what we wanted to do here.”
But there was a second immunity up for grabs when the teams gathered for their weekly challenge. In this Super Bowl-themed contest, one player from each team raced to hit two football-tackling dummies 1,000 times. It looked exhausting!
It was no surprise that the early lead in the competition was taken by the Red and Gray teams − both have been extremely successful at physical challenges. But out of nowhere, the White team’s sole surviving member, Michael, proved to be a competitor. He established a smooth rhythm by singing tunes from the 1980s in his head and before long bested the Red and then overtook the Gray team to claim immunity for himself. “I am so proud,” he crowed. The Pink team’s Sherry finished last, earning her team a 2-pound disadvantage at the coming weigh-in.
But Sherry wasn’t the only one having a hard time this week. Her Pink teammate Ashley and Daris, competing for Orange, both earned the wrath of Jillian in the gym for not showing as much passion during their workouts as she expected. Meanwhile, Miggy, the last member of the Green team, had to be rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night for an emergency appendectomy. She returned to campus the day after surgery with a warning that she needed to confine her workouts to walking. “I’ll walk to Puerto Rico if I have to,” she declared, determined to remain in the competition.
The week’s final weigh-in yielded a couple of big surprises. Miggy lost 5 pounds despite her medical emergency. She revealed that she did it by walking 13 miles the day after her surgery and then 18 miles the following day. It wasn’t quite enough to reach Puerto Rico, but it was enough to keep her safe for another week.
Meanwhile, the Red team’s Melissa and Lance only lost 9 pounds combined, placing them in danger of falling below the yellow line. They were even beaten by the Pink team, who were laboring under a 2-pound disadvantage. But in the end, the Brown team’s John, who had changed up his workout to include more gym time and less swimming, fell short by losing just 6 pounds. As the only member of his team left, John was sent home without a vote.
Is Jillian too emotionally hard on the contestants? Weigh in!