It’s the beginning of the final week in the Biggest Loser house and the Blue team have to Eliminate a second person from their team. The remaining Biggest Loser contestants get a special visitor to help put them through their paces.

Voting

The Blue team had to Eliminate one more person from their ever diminishing team. Katey had immunity so that left only Jamie and Michaela as the possibilities. They were unlikely to nominate themselves so, Katey had the deciding vote.

Michaela and Maria were in their room discussing who they thought the other Blue teams members would vote for. Michaela said that she thought they would both vote for her because the two of them are such close friends – almost like brother and sister. Maria said she would be devastated for Michaela if she did end up going home.

Kevin said that he thought Jamie was a big threat. He said that Jamie could knock the other main contenders out of the competition. He decided to have a chat with Katey about her decision. Kevin said to her,

‘I don’t want to sound like Mark in this scenario but if you look at the scientific way of thinking Jamie has got more weight to lose. He’s gonna be, say for example, it was you and me and Sadie in the final. Jamie, without a doubt, would win,’

Although Jamie and Katey are really close, she could see what Kevin was saying and understood that he wasn’t just having a go personally at Jamie but was thinking tactically.

Jamie said later that he thought he had a fifty fifty chance of going home. He said that if Katey could think logically, then he would be on his way. But, if she went with her heart, then he would be staying. Michaela said to Jamie,

‘It’s horrible for Katey because I would hate to be put in that position to have to, you know, vote somebody off because we’ve been here so long together. But, whatever decision she makes, neither of us are gonna hold it against her and we’ll always be friends,’

Michaela wished Jamie good luck and he reciprocated. She said later she hoped that Katey would realise it’s a game and a competition and that if she really wants to win it she would get rid of Jamie today.

Elimination

The three remaining members of the Blue team entered the Elimination room with their decisions. Katey said,

‘I felt so sick as I walked into that Elimination room because I didn’t want to have to tell either Jamie or Michaela that they were going home today and wouldn’t be here for the final week,’

Jamie said that going into the Elimination room he was comfortable with whatever decision Katey had made. He said that if she sent him home, it just meant it wasn’t his time. Michaela said that she was praying that Katey had seen sense and had decided for her to stay instead of Jamie.

Kate Garraway asked Michaela how she felt about being up for Elimination. Michaela said that she felt completely devastated and started to get upset. She obviously wanted to be in the Biggest Loser house for the whole of the final week. She said it was hard because they had all grown close and she really didn’t want to be in Katey’s shoes making the final decision. Kate then asked her what it mean to her to be in the house for the final week. Michaela said,

‘I just feel that another week could give me another chance to lose 5 or 6lbs. I know that when I go home my life is just so busy. I never sit down til about half ten, eleven o’clock at night and I just think now I’ve got to fit in everything, you know, gym sessions and everything to keep my weight down. I just feel that if I had another week here and I could lose another 5lbs then it’s another 5lbs towards my target. I’ve loved every minute of this experience. From the beginning I found it really difficult leaving my boys and my family, didn’t think I’d ever be able to cope and survive as long as I have done. I’ve just learnt so much,’

Kate then asked Jamie why he would like to stay. He said that being here had changed his life significantly and helped him to take control of his life. He said that he felt his weight controlled him before he came into the Biggest Loser house. He said he had learnt that he controls his life, his weight and the size he is and that now he knew he could lose the weight and start living his life rather than just letting it go by.

Kate then asked him how much he wanted to win the Biggest Loser title even though there had been times when he had wanted to walk away from the house and give up. He said,

‘Obviously, it would be good to win it and take the £10,000 home, it could change my life. But, just losing the weight I feel like I’ve won anyway. I have beaten some of the demons that were inside me that kept me putting on weight now so, I’d love to be in the final but, I’ve won it anyway in myself and my confidence in myself. I believe that I can do it now,’

Kate Garraway explained to the three of them that, although Katey had immunity, they all had an opportunity to vote but, ultimately, the choice was between Jamie and Michaela. She asked Michaela to reveal who she was voting for.

Michaela voted for Jamie. Kate then said to Jamie that he was in the same position as Michaela and could only vote for himself or Michaela. She asked him who he had voted for. He said that since day 1, Michaela had been supportive of everyone and he had the utmost respect for her but, unfortunately, he had to vote for her.

This part of the voting had gone pretty much as was expected. It was highly unlikely that Jamie and Michaela would vote for themselves. So the only thing that was going to be a surprise would be who Katey voted for and some believed it wouldn’t be that much of a surprise!

Kate Garraway asked Katey to reveal who she was going to vote for. Kate said,

‘So, Katey, it all comes down to you. You have a difficult decision to make. You have to decide whether you’re going to vote for the person who is your close friend, who motivates you and spurs you on but, knowing that person is potentially your biggest rival – he’s somebody that loses more weight than you. He could prevent you from getting through to the final. So you have to decide if you’re going to vote with your head or with your heart,’

Katey was then asked to reveal who she was voting for. She said it had been an incredibly hard decision and she hadn’t enjoyed being in the position where she would be sending someone home. She said to Michaela and Jamie that she couldn’t thank them both enough for the support they had both given her. She said that one person was her motivation and one person was her competition as well as her motivation. But she said that competition spurred her on and she felt she needed that in the final week. So she voted to send Michaela home

Goodbyes

Michaela was given the opportunity to go and say goodbye to the Black team and, particularly, Maria. She said that she felt Katey had made a big mistake keeping Jamie in the house as he is her biggest competition.

The Black team were waiting anxiously in the other room, wondering what decision Katey had made. Michaela walked in and they knew she had been Eliminated. Maria said that when the door opened and she saw it was Michaela, she was devastated. They all said it was heartbreaking to have to say goodbye to Michaela after all the time they had spent in the house together.

Michaela said that her emotions got the better of her. She said everyone was so nice with their parting comments and she was also leaving her best friend and partner in crime behind. Maria said,

‘We came on this journey together and we’ve gone through so much together. We’ve cried, we’ve laughed and we’ve had some real good times here together!’

Michaela said the Biggest Loser had definitely changed her life. She said,

‘It’s been unbelievable. Even though it’s been a rollercoaster. Every experience I’ve had, all the things I thought I would never have done, you know, I’ve done and achieved and I’m just so proud of myself. The biggest lesson that I’ll take away from the Biggest Loser experience is never, ever think that you can’t do anything. To all the people out there, all the mums out there that think they can’t do something like this, I say if you get the chance, just go and do it because I’ve learnt so much from this that I can take home now and continue to do,’

Oh my goodness – pass the tissues, sniff!

The Blacks

Both Angie and Richard were waiting for their teams to come and tell them what had happened at weigh in and Elimination. Neither of them had any idea how many team-mates they had left. The only certainty was that Richard knew one of his team would definitely be gone.

Angie said she is always nervous when she is waiting to find out the results of Elimination but this one was worse than normal because it was at the start of the final week.

Sadie walked into the room and Angie said she could tell it was her by the footsteps up to the door! Angie was pleased Sadie was still in the Biggest Loser house and asked her what her loss was. She couldn’t believe it when Sadie told her she had only lost 3lbs.

Maria was the next one through. Angie said it was ‘wicked’ and it was good to see her. Maria said she couldn’t believe she was in the final week and Angie told her to believe it! She said she daren’t ask her what her weight loss was after Sadie’s results! Angie wasn’t very happy that Maria hadn’t got the 5lb she had wanted. But, at least Maria was still there!

At this point, Angie was really concerned that it was her team that was up for Elimination with such low numbers. She asked Maria what she was going to go for this week. Maria said she was definitely going for 5lbs. Angie said,

‘Well done, I’m glad you’re here,’

They were waiting for the next person to come in and Angie said to Sadie and Maria that they weren’t giving anything away! Then the door opened and Kevin poked his head round the door. He said,

‘You’re not getting rid of me that easily!’

Angie gave him a big hug and said she was glad he was there but that she was worried about his numbers because the girls hadn’t done so well. She looked so disappointed when he said that he had lost 5lb but she said,

‘It’s not the eight that you wanted but it’s done the job. It’s got you here. That’s all we care about isn’t it at the end of the day?’

At that point Angie really thought that was it for her team, she was down to the three. She had resigned herself to the fact that she had lost Carol. She said to the team,

‘I’ve just gotta see now if we’ve got a full house – if we’ve got Carol. No one’s giving anything away?’ hoping that one of them would give her some kind of sign.

The door opened and in walked Carol. Angie laughed, clapped her hands and walked over to her to give her a hug saying that she thought Carol had gone. Angie told them they were wicked to keep her hanging for so long!

Angie said to Carol that the numbers had all gone a bit out of the window but she wanted to know what Carol had done. She was really pleased when Carol told her that she had got the 6lb that she was hoping for. Angie said she was very proud of her team and was pleased that she had got her full squad. She said,

‘I’ve got my full squad. I’m thrilled about that. I’m very proud of you. We just focus on getting the biggest numbers now on that scale to give you, all of you, the best chance of getting to be finalists. Let’s get ready for some training!’

Angie said later that every single one of her team had the potential to be the biggest loser.

The Blues

Richard was also waiting anxiously for his team to join him in the kitchen. He knew that he would be one down but didn’t know he would only be getting two of his team back! He said,

‘Today was a little different because obviously, I knew the Blue team were going to lose someone this weekend guaranteed because they lost the Challenge and, in a worst
case scenario, if the Blue team lost the weigh in I could potentially lose a second person,’

Richard was waiting as the door opened for the first time and Katey came in. He knew that he would be seeing her again but he said that he was glad she was there. He asked her what her numbers had been on the scales and when she said 8lbs he just giggled! He was really pleased. He said,

‘When Katey came through the doors there was no big surprise, I knew she was gonna be here. What did surprise me though was her numbers! She got an 8! Which for Katey is a massive number. I mean, it’s the biggest number she’s had since week 1!’

He said to Katey that he was about to start labelling her lazy, he said he was very close! He told her that she was doing things too slowly but he welcomed her back. Then he was waiting for the door to open and to see who he had got next.

He shouted for the next person to come in and said later that he was really hoping to see Michaela because she had grown so much over the past few weeks. In walked Jamie. Richard almost looked surprised to see him but he was also happy. Richard said,

‘It’s good to see you. Who’d have thought you’d make it to week 8! At times I wasn’t sure,’

Richard asked him what his weight loss was. When Jamie told him 5lbs, Richard could barely believe it. He had thought Jamie would hit double figures this week after all the effort he put in last week. He couldn’t hide the disappointment on his face. Jamie said he was taking it as a blip in his weight loss. Richard told him not to take it as a blip but to take it that his body needed a rest after the numbers he had been hitting since he joined Richard’s team. Richard said that, in the real world, 5lbs was a good number.

Richard took a deep breath and told Katey and Jamie that they needed to pray someone else was walking through the door because if he didn’t have three people in his team he would be putting so much pressure on them to get really big numbers.

He called out for the next person to come and he looked so expectant it was almost heartbreaking. Obviously, no one else was coming and Jamie sighed. Richard told Jamie his sigh told him everything – he had realised that that was it for his team. Richard said later,

‘It hit me like a sledgehammer. I thought, we’re down to two people. I’ve got two people on my team versus four on the Black team,’

To add insult to injury, Katey told him that the Blues had lost by just 0.02% at the weigh in!

Richard asked who had the lowest weight loss and Jamie told him it was Lisa with 4lbs. Jamie said that he had been surprised at that and had expected her to hit a much higher number. Richard asked had they Eliminated Michaela and they both just nodded. Richard said later,

‘Jamie and Katey, yet again voting with their hearts, not their heads. It’s not going to do them any favours because losing Michaela was losing someone who guarantees a certain degree of consistency,’

He told Katey and Jamie that, if they were now down to two people, he was going to throw everything at them, including the kitchen sink. He said,

‘Honestly, you haven’t got time to say I can’t, you haven’t got time to say I won’t. You haven’t got time to come up against me. You guys are the last bashings of the Blue team. In one hand that petrifies me on the other hand, I’m thinking you are young and you do have a lot of weight to lose which means if you guys hit some big numbers this week we can take the Black team down! Make me proud but you’ve got to give me everything. If I have to question your determination, we have a problem. Cos I ain’t playing!’

Training Session

Richard told Katey and Jamie to follow him. Jamie said they walked outside and saw the Black team and he thought ‘uh oh’ because they never train together but, when they do it’s very painful!

The trainers lined the teams up and stood in front of them. Angie told them this was it – the final week of Biggest Loser. She said it was incredible they had made it this far. She told them what they had in store was the toughest challenge yet. She said that they were going to be training all week for the challenge but that they would be able to see how far they had come. She told them that the challenge was going to be a triathlon. The Black team looked quietly confident but what was left of the Blue team looked a tad worried! She explained that a triathlon was made up of three parts – running, cycling and swimming. She said later,

‘This is going to be the ultimate test for them. You know, talk about a big finish. This is gonna take some doing. It’s pretty huge for them,’

Sadie said that when she found out they would be doing a triathlon she got a bit scared because it involved riding a bike and she had only just learnt to go a few yards on one! She said she was a little bit nervous about how she was going to cope.

Richard told them that a triathlon is one of the hardest disciplines because it requires strength, endurance and mind-set. He said they would need those three things in abundance to succeed at this.

Olympic Standard

Angie went on to tell them that in order to maximise on the training they’ve had so far and to make sure they were up to it, they had drafted in some top notch trainers. First up was the trainer for the running section. Kevin said,

‘You know that bit in the Superman film where he’s running along by the side of a train? Well, I kinda saw a little bit of that again today but, in the flesh!’

A little spec, getting rapidly bigger, was running up the path from the front gate. Jamie said he recognised him instantly – it was Darren Campbell, Olympic Gold and Silver Medallist! Sadie said,

‘I was quite excited because I thought, well when in real life am I gonna train with medal winners?’

Richard introduced Darren to the contestants. He told them he had won silver in the 2000 Olympics and Gold in 2004. He told them that Darren was going to teach them how to run and how to win a race. Carol said she was just in awe of him because she felt you couldn’t get anybody better but, she was also a little bit worried because it brought it home to her how serious Angie and Richard were about the challenge!

Darren said to the contestants that he wanted to congratulate them all on what they had achieved so far and making it to the final week of Biggest Loser. He told them to give themselves a round of applause while he, Angie and Richard did the same. He went on to say,

‘Today, I’m going to give you a little insight into what it takes to be a runner. What it takes to win,’

He got his gold medal out of his pocket and said that he wanted to show it to them. Sadie said it was the first time she’d ever seen an Olympic gold medal. She said she just stared at it because it’s not something you see in everyday life. Darren said,
‘To a lot of people this signifies that I’m an Olympic Champion but, to me what it signifies is, if I give my best and never, ever, ever give up, that I can achieve anything. And that’s what I believe you guys can do. So, if you’re with me, let’s go!’

 Going for Gold!

Darren took the contestants down to the path in front of the house to start the training session. Kevin said later that there are not many people who can say they’ve been trained by an Olympic gold medallist and Darren was going to put them through their paces. He was chuffed to bits about it!

Darren told them that he was going to be preparing them for the running section of the challenge and that would be over a 400 metre track. He told them he was going to teach them some basic stuff to give them a good start. He took them through some techniques that they should be using when they run.

He said it was really important to use their arms properly to help their momentum. He also told them it was important to use their breathing as well as their arms to control the rhythm of their running. He said that when they run, it was their arms and that controlled their legs and that rhythm would get them through the 400 metres. If they’d got no rhythm, they would struggle.

Carol said,

‘Darren then asked each of us if we would run in front of him just so he could see what our technique is like normally so he could give us, you know, personal advice on improving that,’

Kevin said that he had felt quite nervous about running in front of Darren because he knew Darren was watching everything he did. Kevin said he felt very conscious of himself!

When it was Maria’s turn to run past Darren, he told her she had a great technique. That’s really going to help boost the newfound confidence she has!

Carol said that it was a shame that Darren had turned up to train them to run on that particular day because she had strained her knee. When it was her turn, Darren called her hop-along! But he did say she wasn’t bad at all and he said he was pleased she ran without hopping!

Darren told them that he knew they were probably all suffering with different parts of their bodies aching or hurting but he said there wasn’t a time when he was competing where he went out to run and wasn’t in pain somewhere in his body. He said it was one of those things and you just go out and do it anyway.

He continued with the training session showing them how to pace themselves for 400 metres. He got them to run 50 metres but slower than they had run for him previously. Kevin was up first. Darren said later,

‘Kevin’s running technique is decent and I think he’s got massive personal reasons for being here and that’ll carry him through to the end. Sadie’s quite big up top, so it’s always difficult being a runner but, I don’t think she feels she can win it and the reality is, if you don’t think you can win it the chances are you’re not going to. I think Maria’s got the best running technique. Nice and bouncy on her feet, nice and relaxed and I think for the 400 metres that’s what they’re going to need – relaxation,’

He went on to say that Carol was a tough cookie who would fight to the end and just keep going because she’s a true trooper. He said that Katey is always going to find it difficult not getting her knees up high enough but her arm technique was good. Jamie ran next and Darren said,

‘I can tell the running is hard for Jamie. He’s not sure how much effort he wants to put in. I think once he finds out how much effort he wants and how much he wants to achieve, he can achieve whatever he wants to. He told them the session had been really good and that what they needed to do was to carry on working on their rhythm and the basic techniques he had shown them. He told them the secret technique for getting through the last 50 metres, when the pain hits them and they hit the wall, would be whatever their personal reasons are for being in the Biggest Loser house.

Feedback

Angie said that as soon as Darren had finished with the contestants, she wanted to get his feedback and find out what he thought. She asked him how it went and he said it was good but that it was going to be tough on them but he reckoned it would be mental strength that would pull them through to the end.

Angie asked if anyone stood out for him. He said the person that stood out and that he thought would do anything to come out on top was Kevin. Richard asked him, if Kevin was gold in his eyes, who would be silver and bronze. Darren said Carol could get silver and Maria, the dark horse, could get bronze. He said that Maria had to step up and believe in herself though.

When Darren had gone Richard said that he had been impressed with three members of the group but, unfortunately, they were all Black team members! Showing a little bravado, Richard said it didn’t matter because the Blue team would come through!

The Blue Training Session

Katey and Jamie joined Richard outside for their first training session with him since the Elimination. He said that he was focussing on strength and endurance to help them train for their triathlon. Katey said it seemed a bit strange to be there without Michaela and Lisa and she felt like half the team was missing.

Richard told them he wanted them to sprint round the courtyard at the front of the house. He told them they must sprint, not jog. Katey was hoping that she could show Richard she had improved and learnt a lot from their session with Darren.

They did the sprint then had to start on the equipment that Richard had laid out for them, starting with the powerbags. Then they had to sprint round again. Jamie was behind Katey but managed to pass her. As he did he heard her shout out in pain and she was on the floor. Richard ran over to her to find out what was wrong. She was swearing and crying with the pain and Richard just kept saying ‘oh no’! Richard said later,

‘I’m almost speechless, I feel sick to the pit of my stomach because, this is the worst thing that could happen, at the worst time!’

He called for a medic to come and check her out and asked Katey what she had done. She said that she was running and her ankle just flipped. While they were getting Katey checked out, Richard told Jamie to keep running and working with the equipment. The medic gave Katey some ice to put on her ankle to bring the swelling down. She was really worried that it was going to cause her a problem and end up meaning she couldn’t compete in the triathlon. Richard was really worried that he would now be down to one team member!

Next time, World Champion swimmer, Mark Foster shows the contestants how to win the swimming session, Olympic Gold Medallist, Jamie Staff takes them for a ride and they battle for triathlon supremacy!