The Biggest Loser Season 12 is set to be a battle of the ages, as the teams will be decided by age. The Biggest Loser 12 cast of 15 contestants includes:
Antone Davis, 44, Knoxville TN, 447 pounds
Bonnie Griffin, 63, Picayune MS, 254 pounds
Courtney Rainville, 24, Scottsdale AZ, 270 pounds
Deborah “Debbie” Lounds, 60, Ann Arbor MI, 239 pounds
Jennifer Rumple, 39, Alameda CA, 330 pounds
Jessica Limpert, 26, San Francisco CA, 254 pounds
Joe Mitchell, 46, Knoxville TN, 348 pounds
John “Johnny” Forger, 65, Canton MA, 328 pounds
John Rhode, 40, Mesa AZ, 445 pounds
Mike Danley, 62, Spencerville IN, 309 pounds
Patrick Ferrari, 25, Albany OR, 387 pounds
Ramon Medeiros, 27, Florence CO, 355 pounds
Rebecca “Becky” Comet, 51, Benton AR, 238 pounds
Sunny Sinclair, 41, Frisco TX, 277 pounds
Vincent “Vinny” Hickerson, 27, Nashville TN, 426 pounds
After 10 seasons, Jillian Michaels decided to leave in favor of Dr. Phil. Hoping to find a replacement, they brought in two new trainers, Brett Hoebel and Cara Castronuova. Neither made the cut. So this year we are greeted by two new new trainers. Tennis star and swimsuit model Anna Kournikova may have the star power to stick around for a while. She is joined by complete unknown Dolvett Quince. Bob Harper is back just as he has been each of the last 11 seasons (plus three Australian seasons), while Alison Sweeney returns as host.
The contestants are dropped off in the desert in the middle of nowhere. I say let them walk back to town, but I don’t think that’s the plan. Alison drives up and tells them to line up in order of the numbers on their shirts, which happen to be their ages. Everyone under 30 forms one team, everyone over 50 is the second team, and everyone in between makes up the third team. They might not have to walk home, but they will have to walk a mile to be able to choose their trainer. The goal seems to be to get there first to get Bob. No lame 4 weeks of safety if you take a chance on the newbies.
The young team takes off quickly. The middle team is hoping to keep them in their sights and maybe catch up later. The seniors just hope to cross the finish line. I sense this is going to be the pattern of physical challenges throughout the season, but luckily for the older team, that’s only one aspect of the game. It’ll help to be young and relatively fit, but it ultimately comes down to weight loss. The middle team picks up speed to take the lead, which they retain to take the win. They opt to join Bob on the black team. Placing second, the young team selects Dolvett’s red team. Anna runs out to join her blue team to finish out their walk, and the other contestants join them. Alison leaves them with a challenge: they’ll return there at the end of the season to run a marathon, with the winning prize being a guaranteed spot in the finals.
Bonnie lost her husband 4 years ago and doesn’t want her grandkids to lose another grandparent. Antone used to be in the NFL and is watching offensive linemen younger than him die.
Debbie repeatedly asks for a break during the first workout. The only time you get a break is when you fall or vomit. Or you can walk out like Johnny threatens to do, though that never lasts more than a few minutes. Antone comments in his confessional how at least they give you breaks in the NFL. He keeps going in spite of the whimpering, but he realizes he’s not as big and bad as he thought.
Becky receives a phone call at 3:15AM informing her that her father has died. Needing something to do to take her mind off this, she heads to the gym.
They will weigh in from oldest to youngest.
Johnny: 311 pounds (-17, 5.18%)
Bonnie: 250 pounds (-4, 1.57%)
Mike: 297 pounds (-12, 3.88%)
Debbie: 233 pounds (-6, 2.51%)
Becky: 228 pounds (-10, 4.20%)
Blue Total: 1319 pounds (-49, 3.58%)
Joe: 326 pounds (-22, 6.32%)
Antone: 447 pounds (-32, 7.16%)
Sunny: 261 pounds (-16, 5.78%)
John: 408 pounds (-37, 8.31%)
Jennifer: 311 pounds (-19, 5.76%)
Black Total: 1721 pounds (-126, 6.82%)
Vinny: 405 pounds (-21, 4.93%)
Ramon: 338 pounds (-17, 4.79%)
Jessica: 239 pounds (-15, 5.91%)
Patrick: 367 pounds (-20, 5.17%)
Courtney: 254 pounds (-16, 5.93%)
Red Total: 1603 pounds (-89, 5.26%)
Blue team falls below the yellow line by a large margin. As the person with the highest percentage of weight loss on the losing team, Johnny is safe from elimination. Debbie says that she’s got a support system at home, and she finds Bonnie’s crying to be annoying. If you’re looking for an argument to get rid of someone, Debbie sure just made her case for going home. Her saving grace, though she apparently doesn’t want it, is that Debbie lost so little.
Votes
Becky: Debbie
Debbie: Bonnie
Johnny: Bonnie
Bonnie: Debbie
Mike: Debbie
With 3 votes, Debbie is not The Biggest Loser. She didn’t seem to want to be there anyway. From her starting weight of 239 pounds, she is now down to 215 pounds.
Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Biggest Loser Season 12 Episode 2, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on NBC.