Who is Bob Harper

Read the recaps!

January 6th: Eleven new teams of 2 arrive at the campus, and there are twists the whole episode through. First the teams have to give themselves their first workout, and one player collapses and is sent to the hospital. Then at the first week's weigh-in we find out that 9 teams would fall below the yellow line, and each have to send someone home after 1 week. If after 30 days, their partner is still in the game, they will then be able to come back. How messed up is that??

January 13: This week we get glimpses of both those remaining at the ranch and the 9 players who are playing at home. Carla dancing around her house sure was energetic! Too bad Joelle wasn't doing the same back on the ranch. Lucky for her others struggled in Week 2, and Jerry was sent home, making the White Team the first team eliminated from the game.

January 20th: At the temptation, it was an eating challenge, and the team (because the at-home players played too) who ate the most calories get to take their trainer home for one-on-two workouts at home. The team that ate the most was the Silver team (when Joelle is probably the most disliked player in the game) it was tough, especially on the remaining yellow team member, Mandy. It's a good talking to for Joelle and Carla joins in on the "yelling at Joelle for not working hard enough" party Bob started last week. At the weekly challenge, we have the every popular giant jump rope that they've done before and immunity is up for grabs. The contest sets a new record in length - over 2 hours! - and is won by Green Team Tara wins immunity for the second week in a row. But Purple went the whole time too - awesome performance!

After another killler last-chance workout, Joelle (Silver) and Damien (Red) fall below the yellow line (Joelle by only 1 pound). I don't think there is any doubt that Joelle is going home as she has made no friends here. The other members of Bob's team all vote for Joelle, then as Jillian's teams start to vote - Black votes for Damien. *blink* Oh my, are we making a power play here to remove a potential Power Player and keep a weaker one in the game? YES - a tie is forced, and Damien had the worse week so he's going home. This is a shocker... absolutely a shocker.

January 27th: An emotional week with Super Bowl themed challenges and a visit from Kurt Warner (what a coincidence that he's PLAYING in the Super Bowl - that certainly wasn't known at the time of filming!!). At the weigh-in lots of big numbers, but the Brown and Orange teams fall below the yellow line, putting the two youngest competitors at risk. After a passionate plea from the father on the Brown Team, and a less than "I want to be here" attitude from the Orange player who had been home, Orange is sent home. Now the players sent home are back at the ranch, and the next episode will start with THEM weighing in to see how they've done compared with their partners that stayed behind.

February 3rd: Time is up for the Silver team, both on the ranch and as friends, as Joelle's lack of effort showed on the scale with 0 pounds lost for the week, and she and Carla are no longer speaking.

February 10th: Mandi wins a "Pop Challenge", in part to other players giving up the game, and wins 24 hours with her husband at the ranch - what a big reward for her, and it's soooo good to see some good relations between teams unlike last season. Jillian isn't so thrilled about it - it could backfire and hurt Mandi's efforts at losing weight. Bob takes his team hiking for lunch to Subway - two different ones! YIKES!!

At the challenge it's teamwork keeping the bar high - actually they're holding a bar over their heads. It's an endurance challenge that after an hour and no one drops, the teams were limited to 1 arm. Finally Blue Team loses their concentration and is out, followed by Brown and Black - all the male teams. At two hours, its putting both arms on the bar, and Pink drops out. After over 3 hours, Yellow is out and it comes down to Green and Purple (same as the Jumping contest) and more than 4 and a half hours of it Green touches and Purple wins! After going well after midnight, the teams return to their room, and Mandi's husband is there - and so are her two little boys!!!

At the weigh-in, only 1 team will fall below the yellow line - and one member of that team will go home. Purple is very glad they had immunity, as they only lost 2 pounds as a team (-4 and +2). The Black Team picks a bad time for an off week and falls below the yellow line. Blaine and Dane have been so successful up to this point, and now one of them will be headed home, and we start breaking up teams moving towards singles. Bob tells his teams to vote Dane off. Blaine pleads for himself to go home to his three-week old baby. Quite the argument breaks out in the kitchen after the Black Team leaves the room.

When the votes come in, Brown Team, Purple Team, and Blue Team votes against Bob's wishes and votes for Blaine which is more than enough to send him home.

February 17th: A major challenge starts off the episode - as they race up the hill getting keys to the gym - only 2 teams will have gym access. The winners are Pink and Brown. Anyone else who enters the gym automatically falls below the yellow line. Outdoor workouts lead to some interesting situations including mud wrestling and slip & sliding in the mud.

Time for another challenge using Rowing Machines - if one partner drops out, the other is out as well - so BOTH players have to keep rowing. Dane has an advantage in he's on his own here. The winner gets immunity - so definitely worth rowing for. Brown is out first (not a surprise because Ron's bad knees really hold him back). Black wins - and Laura falls apart thinking she let her partner down.

A killer last-chance workout outside before a key weigh-in, and Pink falls below the yellow line, and Helen and Shannon are up for elimination. They ask that Shannon be sent home, and when the votes come in, the house does as they ask.

Next week there are episodes on Tuesday and Wednesday and it's time to switch from couples to teams (blue and black) - which will be done by the fip of a coin. Which couples will be split up, and the results will drive Bob to tears!

February 24th and 25th: The Pop Challenge splits the teams up between Blue and Black. It breaks Bob's heart as 4 of his members end up on the Black Team along with the former Green Team. This has been such an emotional season for Bob. Then we have a 24 hour challenge on a bike (taking turns over the 24 hour period) with a 3 pound advantage at the weigh-in AND a bike of their own. Black wins, but didn't need it to win the weigh-in. Blue team sends Dane home, after he set a record losing 100 pounds in only 8 weeks.

March 3rd: Rocco visits to talk to the remaining 11 players about fast food and a challenge to make healthy versions of standard fast food. The winning team gets dinner cooked by Rocco and one person on the team will get an extra vote at the elimination - big deal at crunch time. The losing team has to do the dishes. Only 30 minutes to cook! Black team wins 2-1, then they randomly draw for the extra vote and Laura gets it. The Black Team gets non-fried chicken with mashed sweet potatoes.

Blue Team goes off to 24 Fitness for a shadowboxing workout with SUGAR RAY LEONARD! Dr H comes by to share new records for Mike and Tara. He has some good news for other players too. Sione is injured working out, twisting an ankle pretty badly. Only a Level 1 sprain, which is the best news possible. Hopefully it won't hold him back at the challege, which is going to be at a Food Bank, tying to their theme this season of supporting Food Banks around the country. The prize is free groceries for a year for each member of the winning team. For those with big families, that's a big deal! The winning team also gets to be in a Cheerios commercial, AND letters from home. WOW lots of goodies here! It's almost a dead heat but Black Wins Again - 150 to 141. Aubrey and her sister were really upset because they are tired of losing, and really could have used the groceries. Then we have one of the best Biggest Loser moments ever when Mike gives his year of groceries away to Aubrey. What a great young man!

The weigh-in is a shocker as we have a Biggest Loser First. Ali says you'll be weighing in with each other instead of against each other. So what's it mean? If everyone loses more than 77 pounds combined - EVERYONE gets immunity. If not - EACH team will eliminate someone. The Biggest Loser will donate 100 pounds of food for each 1 pound lost.

Helen loses 5 - a couple short of the 7 pound goal, but a good start.
Mandy loses 8 - making up 1 of the pounds Helen was short. Net -1 short
Sione loses 3 - 4 pounds short of the goal and net -5 short
Aubrey loses 8 - making up one and leaving them net -4 short
Laura loses 7 pounds - right on target, but leaving them -4 short
Ron loses 6 pounds so they're -5 short with 5 people left to weigh in
Tara loses 11 pounds - finally a big number - making up 4 of the shortfall and leaving them only -1 short with 4 people left to weigh in
Kristin loses 9 pounds - +2 and brings them to a net +1 with 3 left to weigh in, a little cushion!!
Felipe loses 8 pounds - another +1 building them to a +2 net cushion with 2 left to weigh in
Cathy loses 3 pounds - -4 which flips them to a -2 short with only Mike left to go
Mike needs to lose more than 9 pounds to make it.

March 10th: Mike loses 11 pounds, so everyone is safe. But Ali takes them out to the courtyard for a pop challenge that will change the entire game. The next week's weigh-in will be one-on-one earning points for your team. First team to 3 wins. It comes down to Tara and Mandy, and Tara holds on. MAJOR advantage for the Black Team.

The matchups are: Mike (Black) vs Cathy (Blue), Sione (Black) vs. Mandy (Blue), Felipe (Black) vs. Kristin (Blue), Helen (Black) vs. Ron (Blue), Laura (Black) vs. Aubrey (Blue) - with Tara sitting out. The previews show that it was a hell of a week.

First bad sign, Jillian forgets to train one-on-one with Filipe, leaving a very bad taste in his mouth. The challenge is a relay race with medicine balls for 24 hours of luxury. Black teams wins - again - but it was close! Black celebrates and blue mopes, and hopes they can use their frustration to win the weigh-in while the Black Team is away, the Blue Team will work hard.

Second bad sign, Black Team Pigs Outs on food and drinks during their 24 hours of luxury and the 6 of them have consumed over 15,000 calories compared to the Blue Teams under 2,000. EEEK. It sure looks like their cockiness is going to come back and bite them in the butt. Jillian rips into them when they get back - someone told on them. Filipe pushed back going back to him not getting worked out. blows up and he and Sione leave the room. The tension is THICK. They both go to Bob and he takes them back - this is WILD and never has happened before as the cousins work out with Blue Team?? Wild.

So the weigh-in: Tara loses nothing - not a good start AT ALL. First matchup goes to Black (Mike over Cathy). Second matchup goes to Blue (Aubrey over Laura, who gained weight). Third matchup goes to Blue (Kristin over Filipe). Fourth matchup goes to Black (Helen over Ron), so it's tied 2-2 with one matchup left. In the final matchup, it's Sione vs. Mandy. The victory goes to Sione as Mandy GAINED 2 pounds. The Black Team wins when they really shouldn't have with everything that happened this week. It's a shocker for EVERYONE.

The carryforward extra vote Laura won comes into play as she joins the Blue Team for the elimination.and the plan was to have a 3-3 tie between Cathy and Mandi. Therefore the Black Team would get to pick who goes home - and would have picked Aubrey. But Mandi gave up to save her sister, and voted for Ron allowing herself to be sent home. One final twist in a very tough week.

March 17th: The remaining players are going home for 1 week, and then returning to the ranch for the weigh-in. WOW - what a blessing and a curse this will be. 10 weeks without seeing your family, but having to maintain your diet and workouts at home or risk elimination when you get home - it's a big deal.

While home, they get cans of sugar cookies (BIG sugar cookies) as a temptation mixed with a challenge with a DVD of instructions. They are going to run a half-marathon. They each have 13 cookies. If you eat the cookie, you can add 5 minutes to another player's time. The winner (the person with the fastest time) - $10,000. It's interesting to see who eats, and who doesn't and their strategy for who to give the time too. They are each running at their home town, some with their partners and some on their own. We get clips of everyone running their race.

They come back to the ranch and head to the gym to reveal the results of the challenge. Because Helen ate a cookie and penalized Tara (who had won on time by a minute), Sione wins the $10,000. After being gone all week, it's a last chance workout to beat some weight out of them. Sione and his cousin continue to work out on the opposite side of the gym from the rest of their Black Teammates.

At the weigh-in, we're back to the regular format. Black Team weighs in first and some do good (Mike & Fillipe & Helen), some don't (Tara). The Black Team finishes with 34 pounds lost, and the 4 remaining Blue Team needs to get 24 pounds lost between them. For the Blue Team, Ron has an amazing week of losing 10 pounds. Kristin gained a pound :( Cathy needs to lose more than 10 to keep the Blue Team intact - and she managed to lose only 1, so the Black Team wins again.

Blue team goes to the Elimination Room for the 3rd straight time and this time sends Cathy home, who asks her teammates to send her to leave her daughter on the ranch.

March 24th: The game switches from teams to singles and each person has to choose which trainer to work with through the end of the game. Most of the choices make sense, but there are a couple of surprises as Mike and Helen choose to work with Jillian. At the challenge, Tara and Helen are targeted with extra weight for a mysterious second part of the challenge. The 2nd part is to pull a car (plus the extra weight assigned to each player by their competitors) 1/2 mile around a race track. Winner gets immunity and a NASCAR dream weekend. Tara, despite over 250 extra pounds, wins! She's definitely a queen at challenges.

At the weigh-in, Audrey and Filipe fall below the yellow line and Audrey is sent home. We see she has a hard time of it at first gaining back 9 pounds, but that gets her fired up again and she's back on the losing side now.

March 31st: First we start off with our hostess having delivered a baby girl, and Ali (the winner from 2 seasons ago) taking her place. Then it's the "see how they players who were eliminated early in the game" have done, but with a twist. It's only the 3 people who lost their chance on the ranch because their partner lost from those first 3 weeks. It's Estella vs David vs. Nicole - and the winner is Nicole who has lost an amazing 87 pounds at home, and is #2 overall in the house. That makes her a threat, and really another Tara will push things to a new level I think. The Blue Boys surprise Bob with Nicole the next morning. Ron started having chest pains while going on a walk and is sent to the hospital. He's bleeding somewhere - and they need to figure out where and fix it. They find ulcers that have healed but have been bleeding. He'll be OK.

Now on to the challenge, hosted by Michelle, the winner from last season. The challenge is to stand on a board held up by ropes, which will eventually be released, making it harder to stay up. A 1 pound advantage is on the line. If Nicole wins, she gets to assign a 1 pound penalty to another player. They all start with 40 ropes Mike is the first to fall and Filipe goes right after him. Laura drops at 20 ropes, Tara out at 19 ropes, then Helen. We have Nicole, Kristin, and Sione left as the ropes continue to fall. Sione and Kristin are the last ones standing. Down to 10 ropes, 1 hour into it and still going until Kristin drops, leaving Sione the winner! Then it's off to last-chance workouts. Ron gets back to the ranch in time for the weigh-in.

So, the weigh-in. Ali is back after having her baby and looks like a happy momma. Nicole GAINED 5 pounds - which costs her the immunity she had earned. The change in routine, additional stress, who knows.... Laura gains 1 pound (wacky week of weigh ins!). Ron gained 3 pounds - which isn't surprising as he was pumped full of fluids while spending 3 days in the hospital. So it's down to Ron or Nicole - and the house sends Nicole home on a close 4-3 vote.

April 7th: Ron's near elimination has lingering effects in the house as Ron and Mike feel betrayed by the 3 people who voted to send Ron home. A new side of Ron has shown its face to the players left in the house. The temptation - a gym filled with 100 covered plates that will change the entire game. You could get a track with a sugary snack, a pack of gum with money, or a golden ticket with the ultimate reward - the Golden Ticket is the Only Vote at this week's elimination. At first, everyone just paused, and then it was off and running to trays. First round, it's all snacks except for Ron who got $500 and some gum. Ron follows it up with $1000. Laura gets $5000. They all go to town except for Kristin. Flilipe gets $500. Laura FINALLY gets the Golden Ticket after they went through pretty much the entire 100 trays.... They probably ate almost 20,000 calories to get to it. Now Laura has to stay above the yellow line to make this count. Lucky for them - the trainers come in as they are cleaning up the gym. The trainers punish them with a joint workout for the ages.

Kristin brought Laura breakfast in bed.... Jerry and Colleen from Season 6 visit at Subway. Then on to the Challenge at the Rose Bowl where the players are running the steps. 2156 steps each boys vs girls. First 2 players to finish - get to do it again. The winner gets a 2 week trip for 4 to a resort in Utah. Sione and Tara move on to the finals. Tara wins, and its a close race. After a hard last chance work out, it's a very different weigh-in with the potential of a single vote. Mike has a below average week, Ron has a good week, Tara has a below average week (many wonder if she deliberately threw it), Kristin has a fair week, Helen has a poor week, Filipe has a good week, Sione has a poor week. If Helen loses enough weight, her choice is between Sione and Helen. If she doesn't, she falls below the line with Helen and a regular vote will occur. Laura has a big week, winning the weigh-in, and giving her the only vote in the house this week. She chooses to send Sione home.

Bob has the husbands and wives, while Jillian has the parents and kids. Check out all of the contestants at the Official Biggest Loser website.

September 16: Green Team Adam & Stacey (Married Couple) were the first ones eliminated

September 23: Grey Team Tom and L.T. (Father and son) were the second family eliminated, after falling below the yellow line with no weight loss this week. Week 2 is a very tough week at the Biggest Loser Ranch.

September 30: The game takes a twist as only one team falls below the yellow line this week - and that team has to pick which one of them goes home and which one stays. With a road trip for everyone to the Grand Canyon and no trainers, plus a torn hamstring holding him back, Jerry gained weight this week, and the Yellow team falls behind the line. They decide that Jerry should go home - and he's lost 70 pounds and gotten a lot healthier thanks to his experiences at the ranch!!

October 7 & October 8: This week's episode is split over two days because of the Presidential Debate. Like the previous episode, only 1 team would fall below the yellow line, and they would decide who would stay and who would go. For most of the weigh-in, it looked like the other half of the Yellow Team would be the one to go. Last to weightin, the Orange Team (which had been dominating competitions early on) had needed to lose 8 pounds to stay safe. Heba lost 8 pounds and started to celebrate, until she looked and saw that her husband Ed lost nothing. By one pound, the Orange Team would be split up, and just like last week, the man of the team went home. So now Heba from the Orange Team and Coleen from the Yellow Team are on their own.

October 14: The game twists as we switch from teams of 2 to 2 teams of 5. The Red Team and Purple Team are split apart as the teams are shuffled into Bob's Blue Team and Jillian's Black Team. After the longest challenge in the show's history, even with a 2 pound advantage, the Black Team is sent to elimination and Shallay is sent home. We'll see what effect that has on her daughter on the blue team, and how Phil and Amy being on opposite teams plays itself out.

October 21: Well Renee shows she's a well-balanced person by performing awesome in the challenge and winning a video conference from home for the black team. The black team continued their winning ways at the weigh in, sending the blue team to Elimination and Amy P home (with the explanation that they want to weaken Phil, her husband on the black team, by sending her away). We'll see if that plan works or backfires next week!

October 28: Phil faces life at the ranch without his wife, and the Brown Team gets a lecture about following the system Bob has set out for them TO THE LETTER to make things work. At the temptation, a 40 pound advantage at the next challenge is at stake. Both teams demonstrate what they've learned about food and making good choices. The Blue Team won the advantage.

The Heba/Phil rivalry went to another level as Heba and the Blue Team confront Phil in front of the rest of the Black Team, trying to sow discontent. It backfires, I think, bringing the Black Team together to support Phil.

At the challenge: Both teams are suspended up in the air, holding themselves up in the air by ropes. The Blue Team gets their advantage by the Black Team having to hold up their weight PLUS 40 pounds. The winner gets to exclude someone from the other team at the next weigh-in : a HUGE advantage for the winning team. Each side is holding nearly 900 pounds between 4 people (3 girls and 1 guy on each side). At 30 minutes, 1 member of each team has to drop out. Personally - I'm amazed they were able to make it to 30 minutes! But once Phil on the Black Team loses his grip, it was just a matter of time till the Blue Team wins. They hung on for over 45 minutes - and gets a huge advantage at the weigh in.

Last Chance Workout is another killer (like always):

At the weigh-in, Blue chooses Michelle to sit out. It didn't really matter, as Brady by himself beat the Black Team's total. Black Team chooses to send Phil home - as his heart is already there with his wife, Amy. This leaves the Black Team as 3 girls against a team of 3 girls and a guy who can drop big numbers. Can Brady keep it up, or will Girl Power rule? Check out the next episode in two weeks to find out what new twists that remaining 7 players have to deal with!

November 11th: The Blue Team shows they are poor winners (especially Vicky and Heba). After a week off, it's a week of twists. First, the teams are broken up into singles, although Blue has a 4-3 overall advantage. Next the players who left the game come back for a chance to re-enter the game (similar to how Ali, the winner, came back into the game last year). After the weigh-in though, it's not who is the Biggest Loser among the eliminated that will determine who returns to the game, but a challenge, and only 1 person will return. Feel like a pretzel with all the twists?

Of the eliminated players, Phil and his wife Amy are the Biggest Losers with over 20% weight loss! There is some serious bad feelings between Vicki and Brady and Phil and Amy, which explodes back in the house. I don't think I've ever seen a Biggest Loser get so ugly and personal as this. I really don't like the way Heba, Vicki, and Brady are playing the game. You can can't to win without being mean and petty about it.

Anyway, the challenge: Step Masters for
the eliminated contestants - 1000 steps to back into the ranch, AND get immunity for the first weigh-in. Ed went out fast, while Phil behind him. Heba is yelling at Ed from the sidelines, and Vicki can't watch. Then Phil falls which takes a bit hit to his pace. Stacey then starts to sprint, making up ground, and Ed slips. LT starts to coach and cheer Stacey on - and it's neck and neck to the end: Then Ed pulls away to win by 13 steps - and the Blue Team gets even stronger in the house, and it looks bleak for Black.

Then inspiration for both teams when ALI shows up, along with a nutritionist from Prevention Magazine.

After another killer Last Chance Workout with Mean Jillian (she gets meaner the more backed into a corner her team is), we learn the twists aren't done yet! Falling below the yellow line are Brady (Blue) and Michelle (Black). Normally, they get an hour to decide who to vote for, instead they're going to have a sit-down meeting in the elimination room right after the weigh-in.

One vote for Michelle, one vote for Brady, one vote for Brady, one vote for Michelle, one vote for Michelle - all along the old team lines. Amy's vote: BRADY! The flip vote forces a tie, which eliminates Brady! The Black Team SURVIVES! What a TWIST? Will the Blue Team turn on Amy like they did Phil? We'll see. Lots of surprises and one of the best episodes of the season so far!!

November 18th: The fall-out of Amy C's vote hits the house, and Vicky's true colors really comes out. Bob is supporting Amy's decision, which is AWESOME - but how will he resolve the Vicki/Amy C battle - or can he?

It's Back to the 1980's for the workouts! Very funny and very fun at the same time.

The challenge is even an 1980's challenge: trivia with lots of prizes and either $5000 or a 1 pound penalty on the table. Given the tension between Vicky and Amy C - that's a huge prize on the table.

First out: Ed, followed by Amy and then Coleen, then Vicky, then Heba, then Renee and Michelle make a deal - leaving Michelle the winner!

Bob tries again to reason with Vicki - and that pretty much goes no where. It's still 4-3 advantage blue IF Amy C sticks with the Blue - otherwise it's 4-3 Black. This will be a pivotable weigh-in and vote that will change the house as much as Brady's eviction did last week. One side might solidify their position in the house.

Coleen hits a milestone in dropping from a 2X to a medium and fits in her goal top! Amy C reaches out and tries to bury the hatchet with Vicky - whether it works, hard to say. I truly think Amy C did the best thing for her in the game, and it was a last minute decision at the table, not a planned backstab like Vicky wants to think.

So at the weigh in, Michelle chooses to give the one pound penalty to Vicky (YEAH). Vicky and Coleen are both below the yellow line. So - will Amy C vote with Black again and get rid of Vicky and her vitrol? They're again going straight to the elimination room with no hour to deliberate. The swing vote again - is Amy C.

Two votes Vicky, two votes Coleen and Amy C votes : Coleen (THUD). The Witch stays in another week.....

November 25th: It's NFL week at The Biggest Loser ranch - Jerry Rice and Steve Young come out to train the contestants. They also are promoting the new NFL initiative against childhood obesity. NFL Play 60 is the name of the program. Vicky won the first challenge by figuring out the twist before it started.

The second challenge is another football oriented challenge and after taking out the two black team members, Vicky wins.... again, and this time its a VIP Pro Bowl trip to Hawaii.

Then Rocco comes in to give them a healthier Thanksgiving dinner, and brings videos from home for the remaining players.

At the weigh-in, Amy C (Blue Team) and Heba (Blue Team) fall below the yellow line. Both Black Team members knocked it out of the park. Two black votes and Two Blue votes will decide this. Amy C is the Biggest Loser in the house - Amy C saved Vicky last week, but I can't imagine Vicky saving her over Heba when she is still holding a grudge.

The vote comes out a 2-2 tie which sends Amy C home.

Then we find out the remaining 5 are heading to New York City for a makeover.

December 2nd: The final 5 head to New York for their makeovers, and make their debuts on The Tyra Banks Show. This is always an amazing show as you can see the transformation in their bodies, and their confidence and self-image. Salon, and then a visit with Christian from Project Runway - how FIERCE! Each contestant gets a visit from a family member, and they get to spend a day together in New York before heading back to the ranch.

A challenge of endurance for a 2 week trip to s spa: Michelle wins (rather easily compared to the struggles of the others). Vicky actually sat down on the platform, and was too scared to do the 15 foot dive into the water. Even after the challenge was over, she was still sitting there! It took everybody plus the host to cheer her on to jump down, and Ed getting back into the pool to give her a trusted target to jump down. Some of her issues with Trusting Herself come up - and as much as she's been portrayed as a villian, seeing her coming to the realization that she needs to learn to trust herself instead of relying on Brady was moving.

This will be a key weigh in as either the biggest game player ever will go home - or one of the two remaining families will be separated.

Ed and Renee fall below the yellow line (one blue, one black). Vicky will have the deciding vote, and chooses to send Renee home. We're down to our final four.

December 9th: Blue Team celebrates while Michelle cries in her room. Bob realizes that Vicky, while playing the game, hasn't changed from the person who walked onto the ranch in the ways she needs to change if she wants to keep the weight off. He tells his Blue Team that Ryan, the winner of Season #1 has gained back all the weight he lost - I didn't know that :(

Michelle and Jillian reclimb back up the mountain from the very first challenge, and reflect on the new life she's going to have when she gets home (see, Vicky hasn't changed, just gotten skinny. Michelle has changed).

So Ali shows up with a brown box that says "Special Delivery". Inside, the Final Four finds some of their clothes from when they first arrived to the ranch. After trying them on, they made a bonfire with them.

Time for one last challenge - and it's the normal final one of racing while carrying the weight you've lost - and this time they're racing at the California Speedway. The winner gets The Biggest Loser Meal plan - for the family and $10,000 cash. As they run around the race, they drop their weight loss for each week at "pit stops". Ed wins (which is a win for Ed & Heba)

Jillian and Michelle reflect on her journey at the ranch with video clips and both end up bawling. Bob does the same thing with Vicky, Heba, and Ed.

Then its the LAST Last Chance Workout and the final weigh in on the ranch. In the order they weigh in:

Vicky is down to 170 from 246.
Heba is down to 210 from 294.
Ed is down to 252 from 335, and actually gained 2 pounds in the last week (Bob speculates it was deliberate to improve Heba's chances of making the finale).
Michelle is down to 162 from 242.

Michelle wins the last weigh in with Vicky in second, and Heba and Ed falling below the yellow line.

AMERICA will vote between Heba and Ed for the final slot in the finale. Both of them make testimonials... for Heba (Ed is such a devoted hubby). Voting for Heba would guarantee our second female winner.

HEBA: 1-866-613-0001
ED: 1-866-613-0002

Or vote on nbc.com during the next 24 hours!

The show ends as always with the trainers saying goodbye to their players, alongside a picture of what they looked like when they arrived.

December 16th: THE FINALE! First of all, Ali is VERY pregnant!! CONGRATS TO ALI!!

First we learn that the 3rd finalist, as voted by America is Ed!

The voted off contestants weigh in - and HEBA WINS the $100k!! (So if Ed wins - Heba and Ed get $350k - wowsers)

Next, we get a video snippet of each finalist as they arrive home, and the work they've done at home since leaving the ranch leading up to the finale.

Then the finalists change and we have the weigh in:

Ed: Started at 335, now weighs 196 pounds - 41.49%
Vicky: Started at 246, now weighs 145 pounds - 41.06% JUST SHORT - she needed to lose 103 and lost 101
Michelle: Started at 242, now weighs 132 pounds - 45.5% - she needed to lose 100 even to win and had room to spare!!! WOO HOO WAY TO GO MICHELLE!!!

PLUS - the next season starts January 6th! 11 Couples weighing 3.5 TONS - and lots of firsts - the heaviest contestant ever, a 19 year old who weights 454 pounds, and the oldest couple at 63 years old. I'll post the results so keep me bookmarked!

1) His knowledge as a trainer is impressive, and he uses not only the equipment available in the gym, but the beautiful outdoor environment to teach his team how to train and work out in a healthy and safe manner.

2) His compassion for other people comes through in the show, not just his own team, but members of the other team as well. While competitive, he didn't hesitate to take time for a member of the Red Team who was sitting in the kitchen crying about how homesick she is.

3) He is a competitor, and he will not let you give up on yourself, because he refuses to give up on you.