Second Chance to Become The Biggest Loser
NBC’s Weight-loss Competition Targets Contestants with Heartache
For the 16 contestants competing this season on The Biggest Loser, losing weight isn’t the only objective. It’s about each contestant’s will to lead a better life than the one they’re living.
If you think it’s hard to put the chips away or skip that second beer, try missing your prom because you can’t properly fit into a dress. Imagine trying to attend college, and finding it difficult to attend class because you can’t fit into a seat. Or, worse yet, try to game plan getting up in the morning when your spouse and children were killed in a car crash.
Biggest Loser Trainer Jillian Michaels Hopes Contestants Get a Second Chance at Life
For trainer Jillian Michaels, season eight is all about second chances.
“What it means, essentially, is that every human being has gone through a tragedy of sorts,” she said in an interview. “And the idea is that you have two paths you can take: You can find that alchemy that turns lead into gold; find that magic where you can see the loss as an entry point for learning, and grow from it and become wiser and stronger.
“I think Ernest Hemingway said it best is ‘Life breaks us all, but you're stronger in the places that were broken.’ Or you can essentially crumble, give up, and, you know, waste your life.
“So we have these contestants that have been to hell and back, to be quite frank. I think the most extreme result is a woman (Abby Rike) who lost her entire family in a car wreck.
“And they're coming to the campus, and the idea is that how do we heal these old injuries and rehabilitate these contestants? Not just physically, but emotionally, because ultimately, although we talk about diet and exercise, the philosophy of the show has always been about life.”
Emotional Tests Tougher Than Physical Challenges
Her fellow trainer, Bob Harper, said the hardest part in achieving success on The Biggest Loser – and in life, in general – is winning the battle of the mind.
“Well, I think that it's all about the mental,” he said in an interview. “I think that people come in and they expect it to all be about just diet and exercise. And Jillian and I are just so much more than that. We want to get to the ‘why’ as opposed to just the ‘how.’
“And I think that, for a lot of people that come onto our show, that's like a very big eye-opening experience. They're going to come in and they're thinking, ‘OK, I'm going to know how to workout, I'm going to know how to eat right.’
“And it's like no, we're going to be looking at every aspect of your life. Because, by the time we have you, if we have you for one week or 12 weeks, we're going to try to make a difference.”
To do that, Michaels and Harper will, for the first time in the show’s history, team up to train contestants together.
“We have the same ideas and beliefs about where (the contestants) should end up. We have different approaches on how to get there. And I think that we are complementary to each other,” Michaels said. “And in addition, there's only one person in this world that can understand this job and what it requires, and the stresses that it puts on us as the trainers. And to have to compete with my No. 1 ally, and the person that I can go to for advice and feedback and support, really sucks.”
“I, personally, never want to see it go back another way,” she said. “I think the competition exists between the contestants and should not exist – should not involve the trainers whatsoever.”
As both trainers work side-by-side with these competitors who are desperate for a second lease on life, Michaels is certain viewers at home will see positive results.
“I think it sends a message to America that we can overcome any tragedy and turn it into triumph with the right skill set and mind frame,” she said.
Hoping to Become The Biggest Loser
The 16 contestants vying for the $250,000 grand prize on the eighth season of The Biggest Loser include:
- Sean Algaier (youth pastor), 29, from Tulsa, Okla.
- Amanda Arlauskas (patient care technician), 19, from Butler, N.J.
- Danny Cahill (land surveyor/musician), 39, from Broken Arrow, Okla.
- Mozziz “Mo” Dewalt (youth mentor), 56, from Louisville, Ky.
- Antoine Dove (health insurance agent), 23, from Dudley, N.C.
- Julio Gomez (mortgage loan officer), 40, from Algonquin, Ill.
- Dina Mercado (custodian), 28, from Commerce, Calif.
- Rebecca Meyer (student/nanny), 25, from Des Moines, Iowa.
- Rudy Pauls (engineer), 31, from Brooklyn, Conn.
- Abby Rike (teacher), 35, from Mabank, Texas.
- Allen Smith (firefighter/EMT), 44, from Columbus, Ind.
- Shauntina “Shay” Sorrells (social worker), 30, from Newport Beach, Calif.
- Alexandra White (student), 20, from Harrisburg, Pa.
- Daniel Wright (student), 20, from Willow Spring, N.C.
- Liz Young (salesperson), 49, from Lewisburg, Tenn.
- Tracey Yukich (homemaker), 37, from Allen, Texas.
The Biggest Loser airs Tuesdays at 8/7 Central on NBC.
Exercise is only half the battle.
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Losing weight is key.
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