The Garden of the Gods at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado. NBC photos
The start of week 6 and the contestants find out that they’re headed to Colorado Springs and the Olympic training center. And they all get cute puffy jackets and color-coordinated hats!
Once there, they found out that they’ll be competing as individuals and two players will be eliminated – one a red-line sudden death; the other a yellow line deliberation.
Paralympian Allison Jones greeted the gang and led them to the torch lighting (no marshmallows!).
Quote of the week, from Lance: “It’s crazy that being fat actually got me to the Olympics!”
The meet-up with the Olympic nutritionists was interesting. It gave insight into the type of diet that Olympic athletes eat based on their sport. Stephanie was mesmerized by the dessert case but Bob stopped her with … wait for it … gum!
Olympic skiers Julia Mancuso and Jeret “Speedy” Peterson greeted the gang in the training center gym and put the contestants through their paces. Speedy was impressed; he even wanted to give them a rest but Bob said no.
Koli was still struggling with his worthiness to be on the ranch after John got eliminated last week. So apparently it’s his week for an emotional breakthrough.
Pop challenge: Olympic speedskating hopeful J.R. Celski greeted the gang and showed them a really big scar on his leg. But they wouldn’t be speedskating – instead they’d be doing a slide board race. The first to get to 500 wins gold. The top three finishers win advantages in the main challenge. Sam was first to finish with Melissa close behind and Sunshine winning the bronze.
The challenge: The contestants entered the Garden of the Gods, which was pretty breathtaking. They met Paralympics biathlete Kelly Underkofler. But they won’t be skiing; they’ll be running and shooting laser guns.
Lasers!
The three top finishers at the pop challenge got their advantages – they all got bonus shots at each other, and when all was said and done they all ended up with disadvantages because they all picked each other off. They all seemed to take a perverse pleasure in shooting each other’s targets, didn’t they? It came down to the two old limpy guys – Darrell and O’Neal. And O’Neal wins immunity!
Meanwhile, back at the ranch: Rockne Brubaker met the gang back in Los Angeles at a 24 Hour Fitness (what synergy!) for their last-chance workout.
Quote of the week, part 2, from Miggy: “I’m gonna give it all that I have. Then I’m gonna give it all that I don’t have.”
The end of the workout was great – Bob had O’Neal on a Bosu ball finally able to do squats on his creaky knees.
Weigh-in and elimination: Everyone is weighing individually this week so they didn’t have the crutch of their partner helping the number. Michael didn’t set the Biggest Loser record of getting to 100 pounds first but he came awfully close at 94 pounds in 6 weeks. Sam hit his goal to get below 300 pounds and he’s starting to look pretty solid. Miggy made it to One-derland and was ecstatic. It all came down to Mean Melissa. She gained a pound – what the what? OK, I believe her now. Her body does some crazy things with weight. That means she fell below the red line and was immediately eliminated. “I’m goin’ home, don’t follow me,” she told her husband Lance. Cheryl and Darrell were next up for elimination. But unlike usual weeks, it wasn’t a vote that would decide. They’d have to win an elimination challenge. So the gang stepped outdoors to watch them balance a torch on their heads while in a demisquat. First to falter loses. And then … that’s right, a “to be continued” pops up! And the Olympics is in the way. Way to hang us off a cliff, Biggest Loser!
The update: Melissa is down 75 pounds and looks fantastic. She has even taken up boxing with her kids. That’s with her kids.
Next: Biggest Loser is on Olympics hiatus until the Tuesday after the Olympics. But don’t worry – we’ll find plenty of Biggest Loser stuff to talk about, including an interview with Melissa later this week.
Comments
SOOO happy that Melissa is gone. Not so sure about her not throwing those weigh-ins. Perhaps she now just wanted to get home to her kids and clear her name. Maybe she thinks her husband can get that big prize for her.
I think she did it on purpose for spite to Jillian and to save face. She got caught in a lie, and this was the only way out with her law career.
No, I believe that Melissa is one of those women who lose weight in sporadic spurts (which is exactly how I do it). There's also the likelihood that the weigh-in came at exactly the wrong time of month for her -- hormones have their OWN time frame, after all!
On a bonus video, Melissa said she ate pancakes and didn't track her food at all while at the Olympic Training Center. I think she gained on purpose again. She had no problem losing weight after being eliminated. I think she just wants to compete for the at-home prize, while her husband competes for the big prize. Like she said, she didn't have enough to lose to make it to finale.
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