The Biggest Loser team brought back an eliminated contestant yesterday and the contestants had a bit of Saturday Night Fever with Flavia Cacace and Vincent Simone from Strictly Come Dancing!

Who Would It Be?

Richard was on the phone to the mystery contestant and told them he would like to offer them the opportunity to return. The scream of delight on the other end of the phone was audible and Richard had to hold the phone away from his ear. The fact that it was a scream ruled out the chance of it being a man that was returning!

Carol, Katey and Mark were in the kitchen discussing who might be coming back. Carol said she would like it to be Eunice because she really missed her. Mark said he’d like it to be Miriam because he got on well with her (we know!) and she was strong. Mark said later,

‘I hadn’t a clue who they were going to bring back but the Blue team could really do with an injection of enthusiasm!’

Kevin, Jamie, Carol and Maria were discussing the new addition too. Kevin said wouldn’t it be a strange turn up for the books if Dave hadn’t actually gone home? But Kevin did say he felt a little cheated that someone was going to have the chance to come back.

Angie and Richard came into the kitchen and told the contestants they were going to take them out because they had a team game planned for them. They had really enjoyed the football so this might lift spirits in the Biggest Loser house. Mark said that it was quite interesting that they were going to play a team game because the Blues didn’t really feel like a team with all their injuries!

Mystery Solved

What they didn’t know was the Blue team’s new teammate was waiting for them at the venue. It was Lisa-Marie from the Red team! She said,

‘When Richard phoned up I thought it was just going to be a general like, hi, how are you? How’s it going? How much weight have you lost blah, blah, blah, blah, blah! And then he said oh, I want you to come back and I just started crying straight away. I don’t even know why I cried, I just started crying and then Mum was crying too and then we were both crying!’

Richard said that the reason he had decided to bring back Lisa was because she’s the one who needs it the most. He said,

‘At her size she’s got the greatest potential to lose the most weight. I also think she’s someone that could come back into the Blue team and help make them a team again,’

At the first weigh in Lisa-Marie was the heaviest woman and tipped the scales at 25 stone 10lbs. In her first week, she lost 6lbs but was then Eliminated. Her doctor had told her if she didn’t do something about the weight she could be dead in a year and at 22 that’s a scary prospect. Since she left the Biggest Loser house she has kept up what she started. She said she was going to the gym every day, trying to eat healthily and she feels much better and fitter. She said she didn’t get out of breath as much as she used to. She was ecstatic to be given a second chance in the Biggest Loser house but more than a little scared!

She was waiting in the hall where the team game was going to take place. The rest of the contestants walked in and most were absolutely over the moon to see her stood there, although a few of them were disappointed to not see their choice of contestant. Bittersweet is probably a good description of their emotions. Kevin said later,

‘I think the Blue team, with Lisa included, is very, very strong. They’ve got an advantage over us!’

Carol agreed and thought it could spell trouble for the Black team but, she was still pleased to see Lisa.

Dodge Ball Championship

The team game they were going to play was Dodge Ball. Because there are five people in the Blue team now, Angie joined her Black team to help them out and Richard was the referee. Richard said Dodge Ball is a great way to burn calories and a great fun, team building exercise. Kevin said,

‘It’s a real fun game. It’s got a little bit of rugby involved when you run in and you’re trying to get the ball off someone. It hurts when you get hit by the ball. It’s a good game!’

After the first game it was 1-0 to the Blues.

Miracle Cure

It did seem like Jamie had taken a miracle cure for his ankle during Dodge Ball. He limped into the hall on his crutches and then, all of a sudden during a fun game of Dodge Ball, he didn’t need them anymore! Michaela said,

‘It is absolutely amazing how Dodge Ball can fix a bad ankle. If anyone out there has got a bad ankle, please take up Dodge Ball because you will be cured in no time!’ Maybe it should be available on prescription?

The next score announcement had the Blue team on four games to one!

Mark seemed to really enjoy the games. Jamie said that even though Mark took it seriously, he did see a more fun side to Mark’s personality. Katey said Mark was really trying to get on with the whole team. She said he was getting on with everyone during the game and helping everyone.

Tactics

Lisa had noticed that Angie was spending most of her time watching her team so she said that when Angie turned round next, to throw a ball at her. They got Angie out and Richard nearly wet himself laughing!

The Blues seemed to dominate the Black team even with Angie as a member. Angie agreed. She said her team was a shocking disaster. Richard took great pleasure in announcing the final score. Blacks 2, Blues 7. Mark said that Dodge Ball was just the tonic for the Blue team.

Life on the Outside

Carol, Michaela, Katey and Sadie went to Lisa’s room to help her settle in. Michaela asked her how it had been on the outside. Lisa told her it was really, really hard.

She said that in the house they had four hours a day with a personal trainer, a gym to use whenever they wanted to, healthy food on tap. Outside there were temptations everywhere and going to the gym wasn’t so easy because work and life got in the way a bit. She said,

‘Knowing how difficult it is at home, I said before I came in that this is it now. I’m giving it 150% all the time!’

Because of what Lisa said and how difficult she said it was on the outside, Carol felt it brought it home to her how important it was to get it right while they were in the Biggest Loser house. Carol said listening to Lisa had spurred her on.

The Black Team

Angie asked the Black team how they were feeling about the new addition. They seem to have mixed feelings about it. On a personal level they were pleased to see her but, as the opposing team they realised she could pull some big numbers on the scales.

Carol said that she felt it was going to push her to up her game and Kevin said that as long as their unit performs well on the scale that was the most important thing – as long as they did their best, whatever happened.

Lisa’s First Training Session

Lisa was a bit scared when it came to her first session in the gym with the Blue team because she didn’t know what to expect. She was also worried that all of her teammates would be fitter than her because they had been in the house for the last five weeks.

The Blue team did look much happier yesterday than they had for a while but, Richard said they were still in pieces and that they were going to work right til the end because there was only a few more days til weigh in. He said the last session he had with them was one of the worst sessions in his 17 years of training people! He did the same again, taking them out one by one for individual training because training them as a group with their injuries was almost impossible.

One to One Sessions

Richard said that Mark gave everything in his session. He said he was a complete trooper. But it did take Mark five minutes to recover before he could get back on the treadmill! Michaela was next and did really well. Richard said he was proud of her. Towards the end of her session with him he started telling her to hurry up because Jamie was next and he had unfinished business with him. Jamie really shouldn’t have talked back to him the other day! Richard said he had been up all night writing down things to say to Jamie. He said to him,

‘I’m coming for you Boy!’

Richard did boxing with him because Jamie is quite good at it and he burns lots of calories when he’s doing it. Richard said he was going to push some of Jamie’s buttons and try to get him riled. He told Jamie he looked like a bouncer but hit like a Barbie! He kept calling him a wuss but Jamie didn’t rise to the bait!

Katey’s session was jumping which Richard said she hadn’t done in years. Katey said later that when you look at someone jumping you wouldn’t think it would hurt that much but, it does and it gets your heart rate up.

Last but not least was Lisa. Richard needed to find out how fit she was and she needed to show the rest of the Blue team what she could do – almost like an audition. He told the Blue team that if they saw her struggling they had to support her.

During her one to one, Richard asked her on a scale of one to ten with ten being the most pain, where was she. She told him 12!

Demons Exorcised

At the end of the session Richard said to his team,

‘You’ve now, thankfully, exorcised my demons from the last workout. Don’t think for a second the Black team are taking it easy in there. The only thing is, when you walk back into the house and you guys walk in looking like that they’re gonna go – what went on and you guys are gonna go War! That’s what went on!’

Are Ya Dancin’?

Angie and Richard came into the Biggest Loser kitchen with a rack of clothes and told the contestants they were going dancing. They explained that there are loads of different exercises they can do to burn calories and that dancing was a good, fun one to do. Jamie looked panicked but the rest of them looked quite excited. Well, maybe Kevin looked a little worried! Angie said,

‘So guys, we want you to get changed, dressed up, looking great. Richard and I will come and find you when you’re ready to dance okay?’

The outfits were black trousers and and skirts for all of the teams, black tops for the Black team and blue tops for the Blues. Kevin said later,

‘I like playing music and stuff like that but, dancing? No, never tried it! I must say the outfits for the guy members of the Black team, which was only me, were quite stunning. Bit of an Italian influence there. Bit of Zorro going on! The Blue team people looked like they’d just come back from school!’

When they assembled back in the kitchen, all glammed up and raring to go Mark said to the ladies,

‘You all look fantastic, you really do. Considering I’ve only ever seen you in training gear!’

Top Notch Teachers

When they got to the dance studio, it wasn’t just a dance lesson going on. It was a dance lesson with Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace from Strictly Come Dancing!

Vincent and Flavia met when they were both taking dance lessons from the same teacher. They are Argentine Tango Champions and are probably better known from the hit BBC show, Strictly Come Dancing where they have both been runners up with their celebrity partners. They turned professional in 2001 and have been the UK Ten Dance Champions for five consecutive years up til 2007. Nothing but the best for the Biggest Loser contestants eh?

Anyone for Salsa?

They started with a warm up session and a little bit of Salsa. Then they were going to split into two teams to try their hand (or feet) at learning to Jive. At the end they would be finishing off with a little competition. Mark said,

‘I was quite looking forward to this because it’s something I’ve always secretly wanted to do, Salsa dancing. It’s supposed to be the dance of lovers or something!’

Kevin said,

‘The only Salsa I’ve done til now was with chips, you know, you dip them in front of the TV. I didn’t think there was a dance named after the stuff! I thought to myself if I just keep wiggling my bum I should be alright and it’ll be over soon!’

Once they had done the warm up Salsa, they were split into their two teams. The Blacks went with Flavia and the Blues with Vincent. The next step was to learn how to Jive.

Vincent explained to the Blues that they were going to learn to Jive but that it is a dance that is normally done in couples and, as there was five of them, Richard had to step in, or should it be ‘Ricardo’ as Vincent called him? ‘Ricardo’ said,

‘I was just gonna sit back, watch and enjoy the show! Or so I thought!’

Kevin said later,

‘I done the best I could. Put my best left foot forward and then the left foot forward again!’ But, once he got into it he was enjoying it and not doing too badly!

They all thought it would be fun but none of them realised what a workout it would be. Sadie said she hadn’t thought she would get out of breath just from doing a little dance and a little movement with her feet!

On the Blue team, Jamie and Mark were having trouble getting the steps so they had one to one training with Vincent. Katey said it looked really funny because they are both big men and they were dancing with Vincent who is absolutely tiny!

Strictly Competition

Once they had learnt the steps the two teams came back together for the competition. They each had to do the Jive with their partners in front of everyone else and be marked on their performance by Vincent and Flavia. Jamie and Katey were up first.

Jamie thought going first was not a good thing. But, judging by their footwork, it wouldn’t have made a lot of difference whether they went first or last! They ended up completely out of time with each other and bickering. Michaela said they were like an old married couple! They got a mark of 3 from the judges and, of course, Jamie blamed Katey and Katey blamed Jamie! Maybe they should stick to the Hand Jive?

Maria and Sadie were brilliant although, Sadie didn’t relish the fact that she had to be the man. They remembered all the steps and didn’t really get one out of place. They scored a 9.

Mark and Michaela took to the floor for their turn. Mark said Saturday night he’s normally the greatest dancer but that’s after a few pints. He said he wouldn’t dream of attempting something like a Jive though! They didn’t do too badly, scoring a 6.

Carol and Kevin were up next and if there were points for enthusiasm only, these two would have wiped the floor with the rest! Talk about attacking the dance with gusto! Carol said she was delighted to be partnered with Kevin because he is a really good laugh and has the right attitude. Kevin thinks that his dancing skills are a mix of three great entertainers – John Travolta, a bit of Fred Astaire and . . . Norman Wisdom! They scored a very respectable 8.

The final couple on the dance floor were Ricardo and Lisa-Marie. Ricardo said they’d saved the best for last. Angie said later,

‘I knew this was going to be good. Lisa is very extrovert and so is Richard and, Richard can dance – he’s a great dancer!’

At the end of their routine, they had added a little R ‘n’ B dancing which everyone thought was great because they weren’t expecting it. They scored a 9. Flavia and Vincent said they enjoyed it and loved the little bit of improvisation.

So after the teams had taken to the dance floor and strutted their stuff, there were two winning couples – Sadie and Maria and ‘Ricardo’ and Lisa-Marie.

It’s challenge day at the Biggest Loser house next time and the Blacks really have something to prove. Will they be able to put a stop to the Blue’s winning streak?