The Biggest Loser 17 Premiere Live Blog

Tonight is the season premiere of The Biggest Loser 17! Read a live recap and join the discussion here.

The Biggest Loser  kicks off a brand new season tonight on NBC. Along with a new house and gym, the theme for this season is temptation. As the contestants train hard to lose weight and adopt healthy lifestyle choices, they must also learn how to not succumb to vices that may prevent them from achieving their goals. In addition, there will be eight pairs of teammates who all know each other, except for one pair the producers have brought together. They are former reality TV contestants Richard Hatch from Survivor and Erin Willett from The Voice. Dolvett Quince and Jen Widerstrom return as trainers, but Bob Harper has replaced Alison Sweeney as the host.

The episode begins with host Bob Harper telling us that he gets several e-mails daily from people who want to change, but they cannot resist temptation. Not just food temptation, but shopping and money too. “The real world is tough,” he says. The eight teams that have been cast are people who have admitted that they cannot resist temptation. Among the contestants this season are a husband and wife duo, brothers who are P.E. teachers, and friends who are nannies. In addition, there is a new gym with two scales. Team Jen and Team Dolvett will be the two teams for this new season.

We next see the contestants being greeted by Bob at the ranch. Bob informs them he is the new host as we meet Erin and Richard. Erin gained forty pounds while on The Voice. She’s excited, but nervous. Richard is over 300 pounds, but is determined to win like he did on the first season of Survivor. Bob tells all the contestants that they do not stand a chance if they cannot resist temptation and bad choices when they return home. “Are you ready?” he asks. All the contestants cheer excitedly as they answer yes before he tells them all to get on the treadmills.

Bob says they will all be facing a temptation now, and he claims it will be one of the toughest temptations. They are all given a choice. If they quit exercising right now and press a red button behind them, they will get $5,000. No one is interested. Bob raises it to $10,000 as the incline on treadmill gets tougher. However, no one takes the money. Now he raises it to $20,000. Contestant Colby says everything will be paid for back home is he takes the $20,000, but he doesn’t take the money. Another contestant Vicki is struggling and steps off the treadmill. However, she doesn’t take the money and continues exercising. Bob raises the prize to $25,000. We hear from several contestants saying they have family back home rooting for them. We hear a confessional from Richard and Erin, and Erin says it’s not even $25,000 after taxes. “Who pays taxes?” Richard asks jokingly. None of the contestants are interested in taking the money. The workout ends, and Bob tells them he is proud of all of them. He says they all have earned the right to go into the gym, and they’re all going in there right now.

The contestants see the brand new gym and meet the trainers Jen and Dolvett. The gym is sponsored by Planet Fitness, and Bob informs them they all will have a free 1-year membership. Afterwards, the trainers pick their teams. One by one, they will choose a pair. Jen wins the coin toss, so she gets to choose first.

Team Jen – Luis and Roberto; Colby and Hope; Rob and Sarah; Lauren and Vicki

Team Dolvett – Stephen and Jacky; Britney and Toy; Richard and Erin; Felicia and Whitney

The next day is officially Day 1. They enter the gym to begin the first workout. They all have fitness trackers on their wrists that are connected to monitors on the wall where they can see their heart rates. Soon the workout begins with Dolvett and Jen encouraging their team. Dolvett calls his style of training tough love as we see shots of him shouting at his team. Jen admits her style is different from Dolvett’s; she wants her team to believe in themselves. Sarah never has been in a gym before and she feels like she’s the weakest team member and unworthy. Jen notices fear in her, and believes that it’s overshadowing her before the process has really begun. After a while of working out, Sarah breaks down in tears. Jen asks Sarah to repeat “I have the power to be worthy.” Jen tells her she has to let go of shame. Robert says in a confessional that he realizes that he just didn’t pass down a bad habit of overeating to his daughter, but the feeling of worthlessness too.

Meanwhile, Dolvett is impressed with Erin’s work ethic, so he is surprised that she’s here. He asks Erin her story. She said she got lost in the illusion of the entertainment industry and hoped her voice would be the sole focus point. In a confessional, she admits to throwing up to lose weight before and she cries as she says it’s the first time she’s admitted this. Dolvett doesn’t want anyone to use baggage as an excuse, and he sees Felicia as someone who will make excuses. Felicia finds his training style tough. She is not motivated by his yelling, and she admits she wished she took the $25,000 while on the treadmill with Dolvett yelling in her face.

Jen tells her team she is proud of them. Instead, Dolvett tells his team that he is not their friend. They have that already in their lives. He needs them to push themselves. He candidly tells Felicia he especially doesn’t believe her and predicts she’ll be the first to go home.

Next we see the contestants talking to Bob. Bob says that being on The Biggest Loser is not fun. This is a form of rehab. We also hear more stories, and Rob says his daughter has never seen the real him when he used to be in shape. Toy says she misses her kids and that she has dealt with a lot of guilt. Bob asks her what she feels guilty about. She feels guilty that she didn’t do her job as a parent, which is to protect her child. She shares the heartbreaking story of when her son drowned and how she wasn’t there to save him. Bob says she is a good person and deserves forgiveness. He wants her to forgive herself and tells her she will make something of herself. In a confessional, Toy says she never has ever talked about her son’s death before and she’s appreciative of the support system around her.

Next it’s time for the first challenge. Each team will have their own armored cars with bags of money. They must remove the bags of money and place them onto a scale. As they get all the money on the scale, a ladder to the top of a building will reach the ground. A power couple will go up the ladder and make a decision when faced with a vault that has two big temptations. Erin and Richard are elected the power couple for Team Dolvett, and Roberto and Luis are elected the power couple for Team Jen. The challenge begins, and Erin notices Team Jen is putting a lot of strain on their backs lifting the bags of money instead of just placing them on their shoulders like she has been doing. The ladders eventually reach the ground, and Richard and Roberto are the first two to climb up the ladder. It’s a close race, but all of a sudden Roberto slips and falls off the ladder. It’s no longer a close race, but Roberto determinedly continues climbing up the ladder. Richard reaches the top of the building, and Erin begins climbing up the ladder now. As she is climbing, Roberto falls off the ladder again. He taps out and is lowered back to the ground. Roberto says in his confessional that he is disappointed in himself and feels he has let down his teammates and his family back home. Erin has reached the top of the building, and now she and Richard must face the temptations in the vault. They can either choose to take $40,000 for themselves or be given an eight-pound advantage for their team at the next weigh-in. When they return to the ground with the other contestants, they inform them they took the eight-pound advantage.

Next is the last chance workout. Jen tells them they will not let the eight-pound disadvantage define them. She wants them all to have their heart rate at 90% at least. Roberto hopes to at least lose the most amount of weight to redeem himself from falling off the ladder at the challenge. Meanwhile, Dolvett is still training his team as hard as ever regardless of winning the challenge. He also says he told Felicia that she will be the first to go home to motivate her, and he believes it’s working. Felicia says in her confessional she does not like Dolvett, and she wants to survive the weigh-in on her own merits and says Dolvett will have nothing to do with her success.

It’s time for the weigh-in. One member from each team will be weighed at the same time, hence the two scales. The two team members from the losing team who lost the least amount of weight in percentage will be below the yellow line and vulnerable for elimination.

Erin and Hope are the first two to weigh-in for their respective teams. Erin’s current weight is 228. She lost 10 lbs. She says the last time she lost ten pounds was the unhealthy way and for the wrong reasons. She’s happy to have lost double-digit weight in the first week. Hope says she wants a child more than anything else in this world, and she needs to lose the weight to do so. Hope’s current weight is 222. She also lost 10 lbs. Team Dolvett has lost 0.81% of weight at the moment. Team Jen has lost 0.44% of weight.

Next are Lauren and Jacky. Lauren’s current weight is 223 pounds. She has lost 11 lbs. Before being weighed, Jacky breaks down in tears due to being so vulnerable. Jacky lost 14 lbs and is now under 300 lbs. Team Dolvett now has lost 1.44% of weight. Team Jen now has lost 0.92%. Felicia and Vicki are the next two to be weighed-in. Felicia’s current weight is 220. She lost 14 lbs. Dolvett tells Felicia he is proud of her. Vicky’s current weight is 226. She lost 11 lbs. Team Dolvett is now at 2.07% of weight lost. Team Jen is at 1.40%. Felicia is glad to prove to Dolvett she won’t be the first to go home.

Next are Richard and Colby. Richard’s current weight is 301. He lost 13 lbs. Richard is slightly disappointed since he wanted to lose more weight. He’ll take it, but is not proud of it. Colby’s current weight is 321. He lost 18 lbs. Team Dolvett now has lost 2.66% of weight. Team Jen has lost 2.18% of weight. The next two are Whitney and Sarah. Whitney’s current weight is 243. She lost 10 lbs. Sarah’s current weight is 250. She lost 17 lbs. Sarah breaks down in tears. “That’s my baby girl!” her father Rob cheers. He tells her he is very proud of her and he loves her. Team Dolvett now has lost 3.11% of weight. Team Jen now has lost 2.92% of weight.

Rob and Stephen are the next two to be weighed-in. Rob’s current weight is 306. He lost 20 lbs. Sarah tearfully tells her father she is very proud of him. Stephen’s current weight is 298. He lost 11 lbs. Stephen says he is disappointed in himself; he expected more. Team Dolvett now has lost 3.60%. Team Jen has now lost 3.80%. Team Jen has overtaken Team Dolvett despite his team’s eight-pound advantage.

The next two to be weighed-in are Toy ans Luis. Toy’s current weight is 308. She lost 8 lbs and is disappointed. Luis, on the other hand, has lost 23 lbs. Team Dolvett is now at 3.96% of weight lost. Team Jen has lost 4.80% of weight.

Roberto and Britney are the last two to be weighed-in. Roberto’s current weight is 324. He lost 24 lbs. Roberto is proud of himself, but remarks that he has seen that number before. He knows there is still more to do. Britney is the last person to weigh-in for Team Dolvett. Her current weight is 246. She lost 7 lbs. She breaks down in tears of disappointment. Team Dolvett’s total weight loss is 4.28%. Team Jen’s total weight loss is 5.85%. Team Jen has won the weigh-in! Britney and Toy have fallen below the yellow line for Team Dolvett, and one of them will be voted out.

Team Dolvett gathers in the elimination room. One by one, they will reveal whom they have decided to eliminate from the team and to send home.

Richard votes to send home Britney. He believes she can succeed at home.

Jacky goes with the percentage of weight loss between the two. She votes to send home Tory.

Felicia votes to send home Britney. She believes Toy needs more time on the ranch.

Erin votes to send home Britney. She doesn’t want to send anyone home and is unsure if she made the right decision.

Stephen says they both deserve to stay. His vote is based on who he believes will do a better job at home and who needs to stay. He votes to send home Britney.

Britney is the first person eliminated from The Biggest Loser 17.

Britney tearfully says thank you to her teammates for their kind words and tells Toy she needs to believe in herself. She tells Toy that she’s got this before she says goodbye to her team. In her confessional, she says she is not ready to go home since she believes there is still more for her to learn.

We see an update from Britney. Her starting weight was 253, but she now weighs 229. She has lost 24 lbs.  She says she has been exercising regularly and eating healthy. She also is in a new relationship, and her boyfriend has been losing weight with her. She likes having that support system. She is also appreciative of her free 1-year membership to Planet Fitness; she loves it. She feels accomplished, especially since she is now able to fit into clothes she couldn’t have before.

About Steven Curtis 538 Articles
Steven is a graduate of the University of West Florida with a bachelor's degree in communication arts. He enjoys watching reality competition shows, such as American Idol, Survivor, Big Brother, and The Amazing Race.