The Biggest Loser on Sunday night? This one caught me off guard. Once we’re done with this special night and time, the show moves to its new regularly scheduled time slot, Mondays at 8, for a quick 12 episode run ending in March. At least they didn’t shrink it to an hour or put it on Fridays, but NBC has made an effort to significantly deemphasize this once high flyer and opted to squeeze it wherever they can fit it.
On a more positive note, after having quit (again), Jillian Michaels will be returning this season to train alongside Bob Harper and Dolvett Quince. At least we also don’t have to deal with the group of whiners who so willingly and deliberately spoiled much of last season.
In addition to the 15 contestants, three teenagers will participate (one with each trainer). Two of these kids (Noah “Bingo” Gray) and Lindsay Bravo) are 13 years old, and one of them (Sanjana “Sunny” Chandrasekar) is 16. They will remain on the show all season and will spend most of their time at home, though they will be at the ranch for some time with their trainers challenge participation. Their function is to serve as ambassadors for childhood obesity.
The 15 contestants are:
Alexandra “Alex” Reid, 24: 240 pounds
Cate Laughlan, 27: 237 pounds
Danielle “Danni” Allen, 26: 258 pounds
David Jones, 51: 307 pounds
Francelina Morillo, 25: 267 pounds
Gina McDonald, 47: 245 pounds
Jackson Carter, 21: 328 pounds
Jeff Nichols, 24: 388 pounds
Joe Ostaszewski, 43: 364 pounds
Lisa Rambo, 37: 246 pounds pounds
Michael Dorsey, 34: 444 pounds
Nate Montgomery, 25: 359 pounds
Nichole “Nikki” Davis, 26: 280 pounds
Pamela Geil, 43: 237 pounds
Thomas “TC” Pool, 31: 376 pounds
Upon arrival at the ranch, they are provided team assignments right away.
Blue Team (Bob): Alex, David, Gina, Jeff, Michael, Bingo
White Team (Jillian): Danni, Nate, Nikki, Pam, TC, Sunny
Red Team (Dolvett): Cate, Francelina, Jackson, Joe, Lisa, Lindsay
Once inside the gym, people are throwing up and fainting within 5 minutes. Jackson goes down and stays down.
Nate keeps getting up, but he falls right back down. TC follows suit. After Nikki says her knee hurts, Jillian throws her out, too, leaving her with two people to train. She warns them this is just the start, and she’ll ask them to leave the ranch for good if they can’t get their act together by the end of the week.
Suspended in mid air, the kids will tell the adults where to find a set of letters in the ball pit. Reward is a 5 pound advantage at the weigh in. White and blue teams are exchanging the lead as the challenge goes on. White team ends up winning, which perhaps will save them from the wrath of Jillian.
After a week on the ranch, the kids will now take what they’ve learned back home, but they will be back from time to time.
At the last chance workout, both Nate and TC give the effort Jillian expects. Nikki, who’s been moping around all week, is another story. She realizes she’s not ready to change. Given the choice between walking out the door and doing the workout, she chooses to quit. We’ve seen people quit before, some quicker than others, but this has to be a record.
There is no yellow line. The person with the lowest percentage of weight loss on the losing team will automatically be eliminated. Harsh way to start the season.
TC: 361 pounds (-15, 3.99%)
Pam: 227 pounds (-10, 4.22%)
Nathan: 339 pounds (-20, 5.57%)
Danni: 239 pounds (-19, 7.36%)
White Team Total: 1166 pounds (-64, -5, 5.61%)
Lisa: 230 pounds (-16, 6.50%)
Jackson: 306 pounds (-22, 6.71%)
Francelina: 248 pounds (-19, 7.12%)
Cate: 225 pounds (-12, 5.06%)
Joe: 338 pounds (-26, 7.14%)
Red Team Total: 1347 pounds (-95, 6.59%)
Jeff: 359 pounds (-29, 7.47%)
Michael: 423 pounds (-21, 4.73%)
David: 287 pounds (-20, 6.51%)
Alex: 231 pounds (-9, 3.75%)
Gina: 230 pounds (-15, 6.12%)
Blue Team Total: 1530 pounds (-94, 5.79%)
The white team has lost the weigh in, and as the person with the lowest percentage of weight loss on that team, TC has fallen below the red line and been eliminated. Had there been a vote, I don’t imagine that would have been the outcome. They might have been better off just letting Nikki stick around for a little while longer.
From his starting weight of 376 pounds, TC has lost 56 pounds to weigh 320 today. He plans to honor his promise to his son to lose the weight.
Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Biggest Loser Season 14 Episode 2, which airs Monday at 8/7c on NBC.