The Biggest Loser: Season 8, Episode 3

Season 8 may be about second chances, but this week it was all about choices and control — who has it, who wants it, and what will they do with it if they get it. When faced with two major decisions, one player makes some very controversial choices that impact the entire Biggest Loser household — and her relationship with Bob and me. All the power ends up in one person's hands and the other contestants aren't sure if they can trust this player and take her at her word so their team can be safe on the ranch for another week. It may be only Week 3, but it's game on! And, trust me, the game play done in this episode was among the nastiest I have ever seen on the show.

Tough Breaks Last week, the teams saved themselves from having to send anyone home. This week, Alison Sweeney gave the teams their first big choice: They could work out in the gym with Bob and me or get two pounds added to their total weight loss at the final weigh-in. Millions of people around the world would give anything for a chance to have just one day in the gym with us. No one in their right mind would trade a workout for two measly pounds, right? Wrong! Tracey, who is still recuperating from her hospital stay, took the bait and the two-pound advantage, which also sidelined her fellow purple teammate, Coach Mo, in the process. Bob was right; what a slap in the face to us! While everyone else hit the gym, we had a sit-down with the purple team and Tracey admitted that she panicked, but agreed to take our advice and not make impulsive decisions in the future.

The Green team's Abby was also left sitting out this week after a visit to Dr. Huizenga revealed that she has a stress fracture in her tibia, or shin bone. Bob put on a happy face for her but, the truth is, he explained, she better follow her diet to a T if she wants to stay, because it is going to be a rough road for her without hardcore gym time.

Tempting Treats The teams got their first temptation of the season from Alison. She gave them the choice: control their diets or control the game. Whoever won the temptation would have control over the entire weigh-in. Only one person would represent the team at the final weigh-in and the winner would choose who that person would be. All of the contestants were side-by-side with dome-covered silver trays in front of them, shielded from each other's view by black curtains. Underneath the domes was a single 100-calorie cupcake. That proved to be little temptation for the contestants, until their trays were filled with more and more candy-coated cupcakes and it was revealed that whoever ate the most would win. The Red team's Antoine made the first move and ate two, then Tracey caved in and decided to down four cupcakes. Fellow Red teammate Sean was surprised by Antoine's choice and super-supportive Coach Mo was so shocked by Tracey's latest impulsive move that he had to ask his teammate: "What were you thinking?"

Wild Thing With back-to-back game-playing moves from Tracey in one week, the other contestants — and quite frankly, Bob and me — clearly don't know what to make of her. Her impulsive choices got her labeled as a "loose cannon," "crazy," and a "wild card" by the other contestants. When we learned that she was the one who scarfed down the cupcakes to get ahead in the game, Bob and I were totally pissed. Absolutely FREAKING B-A-N-A-N-A-S! I literally had to force myself to calm down. I was infuriated because instead of working with all of the other contestants for the last-chance workout, we spent an hour helping her — and then she totally ignored what we said. With Tracey and Mo declared a wash, we turned our attention to the other 13. Shay, Dina, Danny, and Amanda were pushed to their limits during the last-chance workout and were ready to give up. They had to make the personal choices: quit or don't quit. And they all accomplished more than they imagined they ever could.

Climb the Mountain In this week's challenge, the teams competed to raise their team's flag by getting 500 pounds of weight to the top of a hill for a shot at immunity. They chose to either take 10 pounds up the hill in 50 short trips or to take 25 pounds up the hill in 20 longer, flatter trips. Amanda and Rebecca's Pink team and the Green team's Allen were neck and neck. Then Allen, who had to carry only 250 pounds because he competed alone, won immunity for him and his injured teammate Abby. Mo, who also competed alone, learned how much teammates can help lift you up when all of the players helped him finish the challenge when he was struggling to finish in last place.

Choices Nervous about the weigh-in and Tracey's newfound control, the players pleaded their cases to Tracey over which teammate they hoped she would pick to weigh in to represent them. The pink team asked that Tracey pick Rebecca over Amanda because of her big losses in past weeks. But when she asked them to promise not to vote her off if it ever came to a vote, she felt shunned and decided she couldn't guarantee who she would pick to weigh in. Then, Daniel from the Orange team asked for her to put him on the scale because he head a better chance of being able to keep them safe so that Shay, the biggest woman in the show's history, could stay since she needed to be there so badly.

The Big Payback When it came time to get to the weigh-in, Tracey had a new strategy and a change of heart. She admitted that she felt alienated and stressed this week because of her new power and wished that she had made different choices. Her ever-loyal teammate Coach Mo wouldn't speak out against Tracey's unpopular moves, regardless of how badly they affected his goal. I just got fed up and let him know that he had better look out for himself. I told her that I didn't believe she really did learn anything this week. Tracey later angered the other contestants by choosing the members who presumably would lose the least amount of weight to weigh in — regardless of friendships or promises.

With the Green team having immunity, the Black, Brown, and Blue teams weighed in and stayed above the yellow line. But the night got more dramatic when Tracey chose Amanda to weigh in, instead of Rebecca, as she promised. Amanda accused of her lying, but felt vindicated when her 5-pound loss kept her and Rebecca safely above the yellow line anyway. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case for the Red team's Sean and the Orange team's Shay, who were picked by Tracey to rep for their colors. Shay's weigh-in was the most emotional of the night, since Tracey's decision to go back on her word to put Daniel on the scale meant that someone else held control over what happened to her. When Shay fell one pound short of the 7 pounds she needed to keep Orange safe, they fell below the yellow line and were up for elimination with the Red team. The contestants were really upset with Tracey for choosing people who weren't threats to her to weigh in and risk being sent home. When it was Tracey's turn to step up on the scale, she did the weighing for the Purple team. It was payback time and the teams wanted to see her fall below the yellow line. Shockingly, she killed it with an amazing 11 pound loss compared to Mo's 1 pound loss and they got the highest percentage of weight lost of any team — 5.26 percent.

Goodbye Back at the house, Shay tearfully and emotionally pleaded for everyone not to send her home. A daughter of a drug-addicted mother, who was raised in foster care, she told them how her self-hate got her to her weight and that she was ready to change and had to be there. The Red team decided that they couldn't take away Shay (and Daniel's) chances to succeed at the ranch. In a selfless move of solidarity, Antoine and Sean decided to put aside their deep desires to stay. They tearfully asked to be voted off since they had strong family support systems at home, but Shay didn't have anyone. The teams tearfully agreed and unanimously voted the Red team off at the elimination so that Shay and Daniel — the heaviest male and female in the show's history — could stay on for another week.

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