The Biggest Loser: Couples Episode Recap "Week 1"
Welcome back to The Biggest Loser! It sure does seem like just yesterday when we were all cheering on Michelle to take the prize and now we're back again for more so soon. This time around we're in for another couples edition which means alliances and drama galore. At the beginning of the episode we were treated to a nice wake-up call from Bob and Jillian. "America, we're the fattest country in the world," Bob told us. "What is it going to take for you to make that change?" Jillian asked. Ahh, such pressure but maybe that's what all of us viewers need to help jumpstart our post-New Year's diet.
Onto the "biggest season to date." We've got the biggest woman ever, weighing in at 379, the oldest couple at 63 years old, the youngest man at 18 and the biggest player to date at 454 pounds and only 19 years old. The big reveal of contestants was a bit different than usual. All of the "finalists" were grouped together in 1 room when Alison told them what they've been wanting and waiting to here...they made it. A round up of the players introduces us to Team Get Gorgeous, or G squared, cousins from Tonga where skinny is frowned upon, friends both married with kids, a mom and daughter and the list goes on.
Time for the first workout except where are the trainers? Well don't think they got off that easy, Bob and Jillian were secretly watching to see what they were really in store for. Jillian was actually pretty serious about the road ahead. "For the first time in the history of The Biggest Loser I looked at the contestants and thought, wow these guys are big." And unfortunately the rude awakening didn't end there. Right after the trainers joined their contestants in the gym, the oldest player, Jerry, began to get dizzy. He soon started to slur and lose color and before they knew it he was down for the count. Even Bob was scared. After Jerry left for the hospital, the teams were organized. They went down the line, each picking someone to join them. In the end, Jillian had White, Black, Green, Orange and Yellow. Bob's team consisted of Silver, Blue, Red, Pink, Brown and Purple.
The first weigh-in was the most emotional to date with Carla realizing she was the biggest woman and Orange seeing they were the heaviest team. And the tears didn't stop there. At the workout immediately following, Jillian was hard as usual. "My way or the door. Seriously, I don't care," she said. And when Laura was a drama queen Jillian told her to suck it up. But Laura's teammate Tara rocked the workout, even when she puked on the treadmill.
The 1st challenge took place on a bridge where each player had to run to one end and back, climbing over 250,000 pounds of sand right in the middle. There were 3 rounds. In the first, Yellow got out to an early lead and ended up finishing along with Black, Blue, Green and Red. In round 2, Yellow and Black came out on top leaving them as the final teams fighting for immunity. In a close race, Dane beat Aubrey by a hair giving Black the ultimate reward of another week's stay at the ranch.
At the weigh-in, the teams find out that there will be no elimination. At first they're thrilled but c'mon, it's reality TV people, there's always a catch. There will actually be 9 people going home. I'll admit it, I kept waiting for another catch because how can they slash all but 2 teams in half? But there was none, at least for now. The team with the highest percentage would be above the yellow line and safe, with the remaining 9 teams having to choose 1 person from each couple go home.
Since Dane and Blaine, team Black, won immunity they weighed in first and lost 20 & 14 respectively. Here's how everyone else did:
Carla and Joelle, Silver, lost 11 & 13 for a total of 3.49%.
Daniel and David, Orange, lost 30 & 16 for a total of 5.43%.
Nicole and Damien, Red, lost 18 & 17 for a total of 5.38%.
Jerry and Estella, White, lost 25 & 9 for a total of 5.56%.
Filipe and Sione, Blue, lost 17 & 23 for a total of 5.43%.
Mandi and Aubrey, Yellow, lost 12 & 13 for a total of 4.88%.
Kristin and Cathy, Purple, lost 19 & 12 for a total of 4.75%.
Helen and Shannon, Pink, lost 12 & 13 for a total of 4.63%.
Laura and Tara, Green, lost 13 & 21 for a total of 5.87%.
Mike and Ron, Brown, lost 22 & 32 for a total of 6.6%.
So Brown won it at the very end, and each of the other teams were left to make a big decision. But ah, the twist, there's actually a way to make it back! After 30 days, if the competing teammate has managed to stay in the game, their other half can return. An interesting change and I'm looking forward to seeing how this plays out. Will we, the viewers, get updated on those at home? Guess we'll have to wait and see.
After quite an emotional day and night, the pairs made up their minds as to who would go and who would stay.
Pink- Shannon goes, Helen stays
Blue- Sione goes, Filipe stays
Green- Laura goes, Tara stays
Yellow- Aubrey goes, Mandi stays
Red- Nicole goes, Damien stays
Orange- David goes, Daniel stays
Silver- Carla goes, Joelle stays
Purple- Cathy goes, Kristin stays
White- Estella goes, Jerry stays
And that was the premiere of The Biggest Loser: Couples. Weigh in with your thoughts below.
