For Biggest Loser's Kelly Fields, Ex Marked the Spot

• Apr 18, 2008 04:00 AM ET
• by Janice Rhoshalle Littlejohn

Their marriage didn't work out, but Kelly Fields and her ex-husband, Paul Marks, decided to work off their weight together on The Biggest Loser: Couples. Weighing in as the most portly pair, Kelly also ranked as the heaviest woman competing on the show at 271 pounds. But the 39-year-old nurse from Titusville, Florida, finished in third place at 162 pounds, arriving at the finale 109 lighter — and solo.

TVGuide.com: Why do the show with your ex, when you'd already started dating someone new?
Kelly Fields: Paul was the biggest guy I knew and a tough competitor.

TVGuide.com: Good reason. But that's also why we were surprised that he didn't come to the finale. Is he really sick?
Kelly: Yes, he is. He's in a hospital bed right now.

TVGuide.com: What happened to him?
Kelly: He is really, really sick. In the past two months he's spent six weeks in the hospital. He's had ruptured diverticula and he got a colostomy, which got gangrenous. He's had [several] surgeries. He would really love to be here, and I'm sorry that he can't be. He was truly missed.

TVGuide.com: On one of the video clips during the show, Paul expressed some deep emotional feelings for you. Were you surprised by his comments?
Kelly: Paul is a good man. He always loved me. I was the one that just couldn't be in the marriage. I'm truly blessed that he still loves me. He'll make a good husband for somebody, but we're better off friends than we were as mates.

TVGuide.com: When you went home you discovered you had a herniated disc yet you risked paralysis and still kept working out. Why?! How?
Kelly: I knew I could overcome this. As you watched this show, how many times was I the underdog and I overcame it? I worked with an excellent trainer and if it hurt, I didn't do it. The only thing I could find myself doing was the step mill and the elliptical machines. I did those for four or five hours a day.

TVGuide.com: When the show began, you were hoping to lose the weight so you could get pregnant. How soon will you be working on having a baby?
Kelly: This has been my focus for five months. I really need to get back to work, I need to get my life back and go from there.

TVGuide.com: How soon will you get back to work?
Kelly: Next week. I've had family, and some people were nice enough to loan me money to keep me out here. Now I need to get them repaid. I'm available for hire if anybody wants me.

TVGuide.com: Was the hospital amenable to you taking the time off?
Kelly: My job knew how important this was for me to be healthy and they want their nurses to be healthy. Here I am telling people to eat right and they need to lose weight and I was not setting the example, and now I've set the example. They're going to embrace me when I get back, I hope.

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