Category: reality tv

Jessica Delfs
Age: 27
Height: 5’7″
Starting Weight: 282 pounds
Hometown: Tucson, AZ
Occupation: Professional bridal consultant

NBC Bio
Twenty-seven-year-old Jessica has no memory of ever being the same size as her friends. She says food was the center of everything in her life, good or bad, and she didn’t know how to make healthy food choices. While Jessica was in high school, a rocky relationship with her mother contributed to her weight gain, and she continued to gain weight in college while pursuing her degree in social and behavioral sciences at the University of Arizona. She tried lap-band surgery in 2006, but it didn’t solve the problem, and a “culmination of several low self-esteem moments” convinced her she needed to get healthy and change her life. Professionally, Jessica has had great success, starting her own wedding planning firm at the age of 23 called Top Shelf Bridal and Special Events. She hopes losing the weight will lead to a happier personal life, and give her the confidence to get out and meet new people and create a fun new life. Now at 282 pounds, Jessica says Season 5 winner and fellow Arizonian Ali Vincent has been an inspiration to her, and she looks forward to traveling and enjoying a more active social life once she loses weight.

Jesse Atkins
Age: 28
Height: 5’8″
Starting Weight: 369 pounds
Hometown: St. Paul, MN
Occupation: Law clerk

NBC Bio
Jesse has been overweight his entire life, but has put on 90 pounds in the last two years. Lack of exercise, poor diet choices, and using food to deal with life’s problems all contributed to his current weight of 369 pounds and severe sleep apnea. High school was a challenge for Jesse. Despite lettering in football and weightlifting, he was nicknamed “Pumbaa” after the overweight animated warthog in “The Lion King,” a nickname that has stuck with him to this day. He attended St. John’s University and earned degrees in philosophy and Spanish, and attended law school at the University of Minnesota. He now works as a legal clerk, but he knows his future professional opportunities may be limited by his weight. A defining moment for Jesse was when his father told him that he missed the old Jesse – that’s when the 28-year-old realized his weight was affecting his whole life, and he couldn’t fix the problem on his own. Jesse looks forward to the day when he goes for a run not because he has to, but because he wants to.

Elizabeth Ruiz
Age: 31
Height: 5’4″
Starting Weight: 244 pounds
Hometown: Lawrence, MA
Occupation: Medical assistant

NBC Bio
The middle child of five, Elizabeth was a very active child and teenager. She was athletic and competitive in school and was part of the student council and mediation team. She became engaged when she was a junior in high school, and associates her weight gain with the abusive and unhappy marriage that followed, as well as poor diet, lack of exercise, and general self-neglect. She has asthma and sleep apnea, is pre-diabetic, and her weight and poor health left her feeling like she was close to the point of no return unless she made a change. Now 31, divorced, and 244 pounds, Elizabeth is working towards her biology degree at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She’s ready to make a big life change and improve her health, and looks forward to dancing, skydiving and traveling once she loses weight.

Corey Pinkerton
Age: 27
Height: 5’9″
Starting Weight: 391 pounds
Hometown: Fairbanks, AK
Occupation: Life coach

NBC Bio
Twenty-seven-year-old Corey weighs 391 pounds, and says he has always struggled with his weight. He was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota, the oldest of two boys, and moved every few years since his father was in the U. S. Air Force and Navy. He got a degree in general ministries at the Central Christian College of the Bible in Moberly, Missouri. Corey never learned to have a healthy relationship with food or exercise. He says he just ate what tasted good and usually ate too much of it. Playing sports in school helped a little, but when he stopped being active, he gained even more weight. He hopes to be an “active, normal size guy,” and be able to shop at regular stores, take new “skinny” wedding photos, and fly on an airplane without worrying about fitting into the seat. With the encouragement of his wife to get healthy, Corey looks forward to being a “hunky hubby” instead of an overweight husband.

Burgandy Keel
Age: 35
Height: 5’4″
Starting Weight: 231 pounds
Hometown: Eagle Mountain, UT
Occupation: Homemaker

NBC Bio
Like many moms, 35-year-old Burgandy always put everyone else first. When her husband was deployed to Afghanistan in 2008, she was alone raising seven children, including foster care placements and one child with autism. She realized then that if she didn’t get her weight under control, her children could lose both their parents – one to war and one to obesity. Despite having several overweight family members, Burgandy was a thin high school student, who ran track, played tennis, and worked as a local model. She married at 19 and began gaining weight with each pregnancy as she juggled the demands of motherhood and life as a military wife. She tried lap-band surgery in 2008, but it wasn’t the magic solution she was hoping for. Now 231 pounds, she says her family of five children and her husband are her greatest accomplishments, and she looks forward to running a marathon once the weight is off.

Brendan Donovan
Age: 32
Height: 6’0″
Starting Weight: 362 pounds
Hometown: Boston, MA
Occupation: Special education teacher

NBC Bio
Thirty-two-year-old Brendan grew up in Boston, the middle child of three boys. He was an athlete in high school despite his weight, and went on to earn a degree in criminology at Florida State and then a master’s degree in special education at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. He thinks poor diet, lack of motivation and no exercise as an adult contributed to his current weight of 362 pounds. The weight gain has had an impact on his personal and professional life. Four years ago, he pushed away and lost his fiancee because he couldn’t deal with his weight issues. Formerly a police officer, he’s now a special education teacher and the creator of an afterschool weightlifting/wellness program for inner city kids in Boston – but he feels like it’s hypocritical to teach students how to eat healthy and exercise when he doesn’t do that himself. Brendan was inspired by fellow Bostonians and Season 5 contestants Mark and Jay Kruger, and hopes to gain everything back in his life that he lost due to his obesity and bad habits. He looks forward to being a better role model to his students, and fitting in the seats at Boston’s famed Fenway Park once he loses the weight.

Anna Wright
Age: 39
Height: 5’9″
Starting Weight: 330 pounds
Hometown: Atlanta, GA
Occupation: Administrative assistant and songwriter

NBc Bio
Detroit native Anna has been writing songs professionally for years for artists such as Toni Braxton, Dru Hill and Ginuwine, and also works as an administrative assistant. She was raised with seven older half-siblings in Detroit and Cleveland, and studied sociology at Cleveland State University. She started gaining weight in 1999, after the devastating loss of her three-year-old son to cancer. Shortly after, she lost her father to lung cancer. She coped by eating, and soon found herself overweight and struggling just to care for her older son. Now 330 pounds and pre-diabetic with high cholesterol and high blood pressure, 39-year-old Anna wants to enjoy life again and get healthy physically, mentally and emotionally for herself and for her son. She was inspired by Season 8 contestant Abby Rike, who also experienced the loss of her children. Anna looks forward to running and shopping in any fashion store, and hopes to pay it forward by becoming a motivational speaker.

Allie Ishcomer
Age: 22
Height: 5’5″
Starting Weight: 322 pounds
Hometown: Moore, OK
Occupation: Student

NBC Bio
Allie grew up in Moore, Oklahoma, and began putting on weight at the age of five after her brother died. From that point on, she didn’t feel like she had the structure in her life to keep her weight in check. At 14, she had vertical banded gastroplasty to try to combat her weight issues, but it wasn’t the quick fix she’d hoped for. Now at age 22, Allie weighs 322 pounds. After her overweight mother had a stroke at 48, Allie knew she had to break the cycle and change her life. Having always been overweight, Allie is looking forward to the experience of living a healthier life and seeing how strong she really is. Once the weight is off, she hopes to have more self-confidence, and looks forward to shopping and rock climbing.