This Week's Biggest Loser Recap: Time for Introductions

Season 6, Episode 1
Biggest Loser Recap: Time for Introductions

I hope everyone caught last night's season premiere of The Biggest Loser, Season 6... but if you didn't, don't fret 'cause I'm here to break it down. This year it's all about families — couples and parent–child teams — and let me tell you, starting this season out was quite an eye-opening experience. These men and women need to lose major weight, and Bob and I were ready to kick butt to get them started on their path toward becoming the "Biggest Loser." It isn't just about the contestants this time around — their families are depending on them not only to give it their all at the Ranch, but to come back home and stay healthy for years to come. It's all on the line for them.

Go Out and Get Them: This year, Bob and I selected our teams, and then we traveled around the country or surprised them with a phone call to let them know they would be soon joining us at the Ranch. I was assigned to the parents and kids, and Bob is training the couples. It was a little shocking how badly some of these families need help...when I went to Boston to pick up my Grey Team, son and dad pair, Tom Sr. and Tom Jr., I saw that the whole family was obese, weighing in from 350 to 550 pounds. Son Tom showed off a GIGANTIC bowl of Alfredo pasta that he claimed he could eat every meal...yikes!! Then Bob went to Houma, Louisiana, to meet his Brown Team, Brady and Vicky, whose 4-year-old is 63 pounds — 13 pounds heavier than her 7-year-old brother. Each of the eight teams were in for a major learning experience at the Ranch.

Welcome to the Ranch: After Alison Sweeney welcomed the players to the Ranch, it was time to start weighing in to capture each contestant's starting point. I learned I had the heaviest team to train, the Grey Team, who weighed in at a combined 671 pounds. Later, at the gym, I might have come off as a little brutal when I told the Yellow Team's Coleen to think about her father about to drop dead on the treadmill before giving up, but according to the show's medical doctor, Dr. Robert Huizenga, her dad Jerry was the least healthy person ever to be on the show, with every risk factor imaginable. In fact, he was limited to only 30 minutes of exercise a day (first time that ever happened!), so he and Coleen had to FIGHT to stay here. Later on in the show, the doctor gave the contestants a glimpse of the damage they had done over a lifetime of unhealthy habits by calculating their biological ages — the age their bodies appeared to be medically. Jerry, whose chronological age is 51, had the body of a 76-year-old, while the Brown Team's Vicky, age 37, has the body of a 48-year-old. Both Purple Team's Amy and the Pink Team's Michele are 26, but their bodies' true ages turned out to be 47 and 41, respectively. Tom Jr., only 23 years old, was 49 on the inside. It was time to reverse that damage...

Terrain Challenge: For the season's first challenge, the contestants had to push themselves — for some, harder than they ever had before — to search a mile of difficult terrain, in heat over 100 degrees, for prizes that had been dropped by planes. The rewards were a 24-hour visit home, a phone call home, two days of luxury, an extra vote at the elimination, $5,000, 24 hours with Bob or me, and immunity at elimination. The first team to get both family members to the prize of their choosing would claim it, but the last team to reach a prize would get the disadvantage of a 2-pound penalty at the weigh-in. Tom Sr. and Jerry had to sit out of the contest for medical reasons, so it was up to their teammates to find prizes. The Brown Team, Brady and Vicky, came in last and agreed they needed to just work out a little bit harder that week to stay in the game. And doing it herself, Jerry's daughter Coleen landed the prize of immunity for herself and her dad.

First Weigh-in and Elimination: After a killer last-chance workout, it was time to get on the scale. Vicky and Brady, despite having the added 2-pound penalty from the challenge, ended up in first place this week, losing 47 pounds total. The Orange Team's Heba and Ed and the Green Team's Stacey and Adam fell below the yellow line; in the end, Stacey and Adam were the first family to go.

Back in Washington, D.C., Stacey has lost a total of 46 pounds, and her husband Adam has lost 54 pounds since the start of filming — both look great! They've learned how to balance family life, working out, and getting healthy, and they've even motivated co-workers with their own "Biggest Loser" contest at work.

Next Week: Be sure to tune in for even tougher challenges and more surprises to yank at your heartstrings — it's going to be a good one!