Makeovers and romance on The Biggest Loser Ranch

Our Biggest Loser correspondent, The N&O's Michelle Aldrich, gives us her recap of last night's show.

Host Alison announces right off the bat that this is makeover week and immediately introduces Tim Gunn from (Project Runway) and Tabatha Coffey (Tabatha’s Salon Takeover). The contestants will be at The Four Seasons for hair, makeup and wardrobe, and will then have to give a speech describing their Biggest Loser Journey to a live audience of 300 people.

If there is one word that is increasingly uttered/abused each season, it would be JOURNEY. If we were to play Biggest Loser Bingo, JOURNEY would be the center square. Biggest Loser Drinking Game? JOURNEY would have me slurring my words faster than you can say Jennie-O-Turkey. Sigh.

Allen: looks great and is smiling bigger than we’ve ever seen him. Before he goes onstage, Tim reveals his darling wife and daughter. Much weeping and hugging.

Danny: Why did they have to dye his hair? He looks good anyway. The wife and kids meet him backstage: his overweight daughter who can’t be more than eight years old (so sad) is excited to see how great her Dad looks and can’t wait to start her “own journey.” Ack. Listen up America – if YOU’RE fat, you’re likely making your KIDS fat. Danny has said repeatedly that he needs to be on the Biggest Loser for his family, in more ways than one.

Rudy: They shaved off his beard! Why Tabatha, why? His wife and kids are darling and don’t appear to share his weight issues. In his speech he shares that weight gain started in adolescence as his teenage sister died of leukemia. The camera shows Jillian’s visible surprise at this revelation.

Amanda: Looks cute and is greeted by her Mom.

Rebecca: Looks fab, even though I liked her hair better before, and is met by her skinny sister.

Liz: Now looking much younger than her 49-years, to the delight of her husband and daughter. Her speech is the best: this sassy, Southern grandma delivers a message that so many will recognize: “You cannot be everything to everybody and not take care of yourself.”

Ok, contestants … back to the ranch.

The week’s challenge has them “making it over” a canyon, from 200 feet in the air, and the prize is a 2-week vacation with their family at the new Biggest Loser Resort at Fitness Ridge in St. Ridge, Utah.

Liz is freaking out (lots of comical screaming) but manages to complete the challenge with her eyes closed! They all look a bit silly with the cameras on their helmets. And Rudy wins handily.

Enormous banners with their “before” pictures are stripped away to reveal updated photos in their makeover attire. Because they “made it over.” Oh you clever, Biggest Loser producers with your theme concepts.

Back at the ranch kitchen, Bob is concerned that Allen failed to win another challenge. Allen feels that by proving himself to be such a formidable competitor early in the season, he needs to dial it back and minimize the target on his back. Bob has mixed feelings about gameplay, so he segues to plug Ziploc bags.

In the gym for the Last Chance Workout, Jillian’s beating on Rudy. She’s really cranky that he didn’t share the story of losing his sister to cancer. I’m a little mystified: on the one hand, Jillian is definitely of the suck-it-up-and-get-over-it school, but digging through the baggage of food/weight issues allows her to show her softer/deeper side. Good for Rudy, for surviving Jillian’s-Oprah-ness!

Time for the weigh-in!

Danny = 12 (bringing his total to 126 lbs on the ranch – he lost a Jillian!)
Rudy = 16 (he’s now lost 134 – more than ANY other contestant on the ranch!)
Allen = 5  (uhoh!)
Rebecca = 3 (starts crying)
Liz = 3 (dang!)
Amanda = 9 (WTH! This is her biggest loss EVER. She’s never lost more than 5-6 lbs in a week before)

Elimination comes down to Rebecca vs. Liz. We know Amanda will stick w/Rebecca and Danny w/Liz. Rebecca quickly asks to talk with Allen and Rudy privately – she knows they’re the swing votes. As they leave the room, Allen tells Liz, “You need to get some fight. Period.”

A sobbing Rebecca pleads that since she’s never fallen below the yellow line, she deserves a second chance. Eeesh …. Meanwhile, Danny’s been urging Liz to heed Allen’s order. And she does! Her argument isn’t more compelling than Rebecca’s, but we’ll see how the big guys vote.

They sent Rebecca home. Rudy revealed that while he respected her as a competitor and liked her as a friend, he didn’t trust her! Me neither Rudy, not after all the weeks she spent spellbound at the feet of Daniel from Willow Springs! (Rebecca announced last night on The Jay Leno Show that she and Daniel are in love)

The follow-up video shows a warm reception for Rebecca back in Des Moines. She runs her first half-marathon! And says that “her dream is to open a gym for overweight children.” Nice. She will definitely be a contender for the at-home prize!

Next week’s episode will have a segment following up on contestants from previous seasons. Should go nicely with a slice of pumpkin pie …