After five seasons, a woman has finally won The Biggest Loser.
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Alison Vincent was crowned The Biggest Loser: Couples champ during last night's live finale broadcast of the NBC reality weight-loss series' fifth season.
The 32-year-old hair stylist from Mesa, AZ started the competition at 234 pounds and lost 112 pounds for a 47.86% weight-loss percentage, claiming the show's $250,000 grand prize. Ali had cryptically predicted she'd win The Biggest Loser despite being eliminated during the fourth week of the competition.
"I'm going to be The Biggest Loser," she said at the time before leaving the campus.
Ali was subsequently reintroduced into the competition via a fifth-season twist that brought back the male and female contestants who had posted the highest percentage of weight loss since the first week of the game.
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"It felt amazing to know I was back in the game," said Ali at the time. "I'm ready for it now. I wanted my second chance and I got it."
Not only did Ali get a second chance, she made the most of it -- defeating Kelly Fields, a 38-year-old nurse from Titusville, FL, and Roger Schultz, a 40-year-old associate athletic director from Enterprise, AL who won The Biggest Loser: Couples' home viewer vote to determine the third fifth-season finalist.
During the show's finale, The Biggest Loser host Allison Sweeney revealed Roger defeated Mark Kruger, a 35-year-old aerial device sales representative from Dartmouth, MA, by "less than a 100,000 vote difference" to become the show's third finalist.
Roger, who finished as the runner-up, started at 363 pounds and dropped 164 for 45.18% weight-loss percentage. Kelly, who finished third, began the competition at 271 pounds as the fifth-season's heaviest woman and lost 109 for a 40.22% weight-loss percentage.
Bernardo Salazar, a 27-year-old teacher and Chicago Bulls dancer from Chicago, IL who was eliminated during the tenth week of the competition, won the weigh-in of the seasons's 16 other previously eliminated contestants and thus claimed the $100,000 consolation prize. Bernie started the competition at 283 pounds and lost 130 for a 45.90% weight-loss percentage.
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The start and finish weights and final weight-loss percentages of the 16 other previously eliminated contestants -- as well as the order in which they were booted from the competition -- are as follows.
Lynn Westphal, a 60-year-old interior decorator from Elyria, OH, began the competition at 409 pounds and lost 80 for a 19.56% weight-loss percentage; while his daughter Jenni, a 31-year-old nanny from North Ridgeville, OH, started at 267 pounds and dropped 54 for a 20.22% weight-loss percentage.
Mallory Bray, a 36-year-old business owner from Los Angeles, CA, started at 217 pounds and shed 65 for a 29.95% weight-loss percentage; while her husband Curtis, a 35-year-old graphic designer, began at 381 pounds and lost 150 for a 39.37% weight-loss percentage.
Neill Harmer, a 28-year-old web developer from Bethany, OK, started the competition at 317 pounds and dropped 88 for a 27.76% weight-loss percentage; while his wife Amanda, a 29-year-old teacher, began at 204 pounds and lost 64 for a 31.37% weight-loss percentage. Ali's mom Bette Sue Burkland, a 53-year-old hair stylist from Mesa, AZ, started the competition at 261 pounds and shed 75 for a 28.74% weight-loss percentage.
Jennifer Widder, a 22-year-old weight-loss camp assistant director from River Edge, NJ, started the competition at 254 pounds and lost 64 for a 25.20% weight-loss percentage; Jackie Evans, a 49-year-old non-profit organization CEO from Frankfort, IL, began at 246 pounds and dropped 89 for a 36.18% weight-loss percentage; and Trent Patterson, a 39-year-old school safety and security coordinator from Endicott, NY, started at 436 pounds and shed 135 for a 30.96% weight-loss percentage.
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Maggie King, a 23-year-old weight-loss camp counselor from Denville, NJ, started the competition at 239 pounds and lost 70 for a 29.29% weight-loss percentage; Brittany Aberle, a 22-year-old hair stylist from San Jacinto, CA, began at 221 pounds and dropped 57 for a 25.79% weight-loss percentage; and Dan Evans, a 21-year-old camp counselor and musician from Frankfort, IL, started at 310 and shed 136 for a 43.87% weight-loss percentage.
Jay Kruger, a 31-year-old aerial device account manager from Bedford, MA, began the competition at 293 pounds and lost 103 for a 35.15% weight-loss percentage; while his brother Mark started at 285 pounds and shed 129 for a 45.30% weight-loss percentage. Mark missed having the highest weight-loss percentage among the previously eliminated contestants by only one pound.
Paul Marks, a 43-year-old space center missle-support specialist from Rockledge, FL, was the only The Biggest Loser: Couples contestant not in attendance at the live finale. Allison explained to viewers that Paul was "too ill to make the trip."
The Biggest Loser: Families -- the reality weight-loss series' sixth-season -- will be part of NBC's Fall 2008 primetime programming schedule with 90-minute episodes airing in the Tuesdays at 8PM ET/PT time slot.
(Photo credit NBC/Dave Bjerke)
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio