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Inside 'The Biggest Loser' Finale Season Seven
A bout with food poisoning nearly kept me from my favorite night of the year, "The Biggest Loser" finale. I rallied back even though I knew I would not be going on stage after the show to interview the winners (as I have the past few seasons). Someone else who works at our show got that honor. They apparently had a friend who is involved with the show who asked them to do it. So, I was bummed but there was no way I was going to miss the show.
Of course, I had no idea it was a three hour-long event! I have to say it went by fairly fast though thank goodness. They even had snacks for the audience this year; in case you just couldn't hold out for three hours. You would think with all those miraculous weight loss makeovers I could skip the snack food. I didn't. I ran out about four times during the commercial breaks. Maybe that's why it went by so fast!
My co-worker Celeste, who is a huge fan of the show, came along with me. When we arrived to the stage the first 'Loser' alum we spotted was Heba from last season. She was talking to someone in a beige dress that turned around and turned out to be evil Vicky! Celeste and I both had a chuckle about being seated just three rows behind last season's most polarizing player. It took us a minute to realize that we were actually seated behind all the past seasons contestants. Most of them looked really great, especially the winners from last season - Dan, Jackie, Brady, Ed, Colleen, Amy and Phil all looked fantastic. I recognized a few people from earlier seasons who seemed to have kept their weight off with one exception. One of the twins - Bill and Jim (who won season four) - seems to have gained a significant amount of weight back. I'm not sure which twin it was as my twin-dar for telling them apart was not working properly.
We were also surrounded in our seats by the season seven contestants' families. Carla's family sat right in front of and next to us while Filipe and Sione's extended families were on the opposite side across the aisle. If you are wondering who gave Filipe and Sione the lei's they were wearing towards the end of the show, it was Filipe' wife who brought them for them and adorned them during a commercial break with the flower necklaces.
We also spotted Kevin Connolly in the audience looking cozy with a cute brunette actress who I know I've seen on TV (but I just couldn't place her). If someone knows who he is dating please add a comment below about it. I'm guessing she is a huge fan of the show because at one point an EP brought over Amy and Phil from last season for her to meet.
Celeste and I are Tara fans so it was a little uncomfortable when I found out I was sitting right next to Helen's personal trainer. This guy told me Helen had this competition in the bag, "wait til you see her," he said. Apparently, he and another trainer, who both also work at the high school Helen's son attends, donated their personal training services to Helen while she was home.
He certainly seemed confident. He also made it sound like all the contestants had been talking and everyone pretty much knew who would win the final prize and the at-home prize. So, I'm guessing all that preening Helen did was not just because she knew she looked great. It was a letdown when Tara lost, but I guess who really cares because everyone looked amazing.
A couple of things you didn't see on TV. Alison Sweeney has got to be the sweetest host on TV. Her interaction with the contestants is so incredibly genuine (unlike another host of a certain number one television show). You can tell she truly cares about these people. In high heels and all she actually walked up to help Estella down the stairs after the weigh in. Another thing you didn't see was when Carla was being weighed in, during her taped piece she was standing on the scale mimicking her fights with Joelle to the crowd.
While the whole night was (as always) so heartwarming I think the best moment of all was when during a commercial break they played "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and everyone from the audience -- the producers, the crew, the host -- stood up and sang and danced along in agreement.
does anyone know anything about Alison Sweeney's dress in the final show. It was beautiful?
I wasn't happy with the outcome of the show....Helen was the last person I wanted to win....Mike, then Tara then Helen - I didn't like her all season but she really must have worked hard and she really did lose the weight so I guess I'll have to be satisfied!
Helen looked sick. she did not look Healthy. I have heard many rumors about how she starved herself to win. Tara and Mike looked great. Tara deserved to win, but I would have been happy with Mike. Helen should not have won. She was thin, but not healthy looking.