From LOSING IT! With Jillian Michaels
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
The Biggest Loser: Season 8, Episode 5
This week, the pressure was on from the beginning. The contestants met up with Alison Sweeney, who explained that there would be no more color shirt teams; from now on they were members of Team Black or Team Blue. She gave them a temptation right off the bat. The winner would get to choose his or her team, pick everyone else's team, and decide who would train with Bob and me. Basically, all of the power in the competition would be in one player's hand — and it would all come down to a simple spin of a wheel!
Wheeling and Dealing: All of the contestants except Abby decided to participate in the temptation to get a shot at controlling the game. They would each spin an enormous wheel with 36 dome-covered spaces on it. The person who uncovered the golden ticket hidden underneath one dome would win. The other 35 domes hid a wide range of consequences — both good and bad (such as a $1,000 prize or a mandatory 1,000-calorie treat). Rudy went first and had to eat a piece of chocolate-frosted cake. Rebecca downed a 280-calorie chocolate doughnut. Allen got a 100-calorie mini-cupcake, and Danny had to eat a gigantic 780-calorie chocolate-frosted cupcake. Then, Tracey spun the wheel, uncovered the golden ticket, and won the temptation. The players were shocked and dismayed that she had won yet another temptation — the third this season — giving her all of the power to control the game again.
Divide and Conquer: Bob and I headed back to the Ranch to meet up with the contestants. We were surprised to see Tracey holding a golden ticket. Once we were brought up to speed on Tracey's latest temptation win, Alison asked her to select whether she wanted to train with Bob or me. Tracey picked Bob and explained that she felt like they had a special connection with each other. Then Tracey had to choose which players would be on Team Black or Blue. Everyone seemed pretty happy with her initial picks. She selected former Orange Team member Daniel to join my Black Team and brought over his partner, Shay. She also opted to keep her team intact by selecting her former Purple teammate, Coach Mo, to join her on the Blue Team. But then she began splitting up partners. Liz was devastated to be split from her former Brown Team member Danny. Pink's Amanda and Rebecca and Blue's Rudy and Dina were also pretty upset that they were split up. The final teams were: Tracey, Mo, Liz, Rudy, and Danny on Bob's Blue Team and Shay, Abby, Dina, Amanda, and Daniel on my Black Team.
Black and Blue Bonding: Liz was crying about Tracey's decision to put Danny on my Black Team. She declared that she planned to work out as hard as she could to earn immunity; she said she would "kill Tracey with kindness" to her face, then send her packing the first chance she got. She pushed herself so hard in her workout that she passed out and fell down on top of the treadmill. Other members of split teams were also distracted by the new team drama, so Bob and I decided that they needed to be refocused on what is truly important — losing weight. I put my team through a grueling last-chance workout that required them to work in pairs so they could learn to motivate, trust, and rely on each other. Bob took his team off site to 24-Hour Fitness so they could do a group class.
Uphill Battles: Alison called the contestants together to issue this week's Challenge. Each team had to race up a hill, splash through mud, and cross a field to the finish line while carrying one of their teammates on a platform. Abby and Tracey, who are still nursing injuries and medical conditions, sat this one out. The Blue Team made a plan to start out strong right out the gate. It worked! They took the lead early and were able to maintain it through the entire Challenge. In the end, they all won a chance to watch videos sent by their loved ones back home. They all tearfully watched them except for Liz, who gave up her own family video so that her former partner Danny could watch his. Danny said he felt like a new man after that and was reenergized to lose weight.
Weigh-in: The team with the highest percentage of weight lost would be named this week's winner. Since Tracey had won the temptation, she got on the scale first. Even though her injury kept her from doing full workouts, she had a very good week and lost 7 pounds. Coach Mo, who was still nursing his injuries, lost just 6 pounds and Liz lost 8 pounds. The rest of the Blue Team lost either 7 or 8 pounds each, for a grand total of 43 pounds lost. My Black Team rocked! We started off slowly, with Abby dropping 5 pounds and Dina and Amanda dropping 6 pounds each. Then Danny put up 10 pounds and Daniel lost 11. With only 7 more pounds needed to keep the Black Team safe from elimination, Shay dropped 16 pounds! The Black Team was safe, with 54 pounds lost. The Blue Team was headed to elimination, and Liz's plan for sweet revenge seemed set because she earned immunity (she had the highest percent of weight lost).
Change in Plans: The Blue Team left the weigh-in pretty certain that they were about to get rid of Tracey. But once the team met to let her defend her right to stay, the members began to waver — even Liz! Coach Mo asked the team to vote him off due to his string of injuries so he wouldn't drag the team down with low numbers. The members unanimously (and tearfully) decided to vote him off — so Tracey stays in the game for another week.
At Home: Since leaving the Biggest Loser Ranch, Coach Mo has lost 75 pounds at home and says that the show has saved his life.