Alison Sweeney
Mitchell Haaseth/NBC
All right, Biggest Loser fans. For the many of you posting your frustration this season, is this more what you had in mind?In this 201st episode of The Biggest Loser, it's all about family and inspiration as the remaining contestants returned home for 18 days, with the goal of losing 5 percent of their body weight before the next weigh-in.
I don't know about you, but as each contestant walked into his or her home and was welcomed by their families, I couldn't stop the tears as loved ones (all those beautiful kids) saw all the hard work the contestants accomplished on the Ranch.
The father-daughter interactions were particularly moving for me. Seeing Emily's dad show his support when she admitted to wanting to complete an ironman instead of return to weight-lifting, and seeing Megan's dad's pride as she enjoyed her horseback riding again, were special moments. You could see the smiles on both Emily and Megan's faces shine brighter than they had since their Biggest Loser journey began.
When the contestants got back to the Ranch, they had a renewed energy – and that was a good thing, because Dolvett and Bob were going to use all that energy in their last-chance workouts. The "box" that Bob created was super intense. But leave it to Bob to know how hard he could push his team and that they would be able to handle all he threw at them (even the weighted ball).
After Buddy told us that by losing 100 lbs. (since coming to the Ranch), his weight before his daughter died six years ago, there wasn't a dry eye in the gym. It was one of the most meaningful moments for me on The Biggest Loser campus, and I really was so proud to have been part of this journey with him.
If you missed Tuesday's final weigh-in, man did you miss the most emotional weigh-in that I can remember. Chism lost 11 lbs. and was one pound away from keeping himself and his team safe for another week. Instead, he was automatically eliminated and his father made a plea to be eliminated in his place. As a mother, it tore me up to watch Chism and Mark struggle with this outcome. It was hard for all of us to say goodbye to Chism.
My favorite moment this week was to watch the montage of Chism's journey from boy to man on the Ranch. It really is what the show is all about – changing lives for the better.
As for the recent rumors from campus, here’s the scoop: Wait for it! By now you should know that I’m not going to give it away. Tune in if you want to find out what happened!
Now for the self-promotion of the week, my new show, Hollywood Girls Night, premieres March 4 on TV Guide Network. Make sure to tune in and let me know what you think!