Dan Evans the fifteenth contestant cut from 'The Biggest Loser'

The women still may ultimately lose the war, but at least they were able to win a major battle.


Dan Evans, a 21-year-old camp counselor and musician from Frankfort, IL, was revealed to be the fifteenth contestant eliminated from The Biggest Loser: Couples during last night's broadcast of the NBC reality weight-loss series' fifth season.

"I never imagined how much this would change my life," said Dan following his ouster.  "No longer can I count on just being spoon-fed life.  It's about me taking one step at a time to accomplish anything I want to accomplish.  I don't have to worry about my size or my health holding me back... Not for one moment am I going to forget how far I've come."

The Biggest Loser: Couples thirteenth episode began following the previous elimination of Brittany Aberle, which came a week following the ouster of Maggie King -- meaning Kelly Fields was the only Black Team member left in the competition and one of two women along with Alison Vincent.  Black Team trainer Jillian Michaels was also taking the eliminations hard.

"The boys are tight," commented Kelly.  "The two girls are expendable, so it's just a matter of time to crank us out."


Blue Team trainer Bob Harper met with his guys -- Jay and Mark Kruger, Dan and Roger Schultz -- and commented how he was concerned about their routines.  He criticized Jay and Mark for their lack of carbohydrate consumption prior to weigh-ins and added it was something that would be corrected.

The six remaining contestants then met The Biggest Loser host Allison Sweeney in the elimination room, where a silver platter with a lid on it sat in the middle of the table.  Allison explained the contestants would be participating in a The Biggest Loser pop quiz.  Each contestant would write down their answer, and if it was wrong, they'd be eliminated.  Last contestant left would win the platter.

All six contestants correctly answered 3,500 calories need to be burned to total a pound.  However Kelly, Ali and Mark couldn't recall that Trent Patterson had lost a total of 100 pounds during the first 10 weeks of the competition, eliminating them from the pop quiz.  None of the other three contestants correctly guessed how many calories are in a cup of fat-free strawberry yogurt (200), but because Dan was closest with his answer of 100, he won the platter.

Allison removed the lid and revealed a piece of chocolate cake, which she said totaled 600 calories.  She told Dan to take the platter of cake with him to the next Reward Challenge and added to make sure that it's still intact or else it's useless.

Needless to say, everyone gave Dan a hard time about the piece of cake.  While he was on a walk with Mark and Jay, the piece of cake went missing.  A ransom note was left on Dan's bed that was signed by Kelly, however it was actually Roger who hid the cake.  Everyone had a good laugh from the prank since it lightened the mood of the competition.


The six contestants then gathered at a sports arena for a Reward Challenge, and Allison explained the rules.  Over the course of 20 minutes, each contestant would collect a variety of junk food regularly sold at sporting events -- from hot dogs and pizza to ice cream and popcorn -- which was spread throughout the arena at various stands.

They could only bring back one item at a time and then had to place it on a table with one of the other contestants' names written on it.  Once time expired, the contestant with the least amount of calories on their table would win $10,000. 

Dan then learned what the piece of cake was for, as he could put it on whichever table he wanted.  He decided to put it on Kelly's table -- a clear indication that the four guys planned to gang-up on Kelly and Ali during the challenge.

That's exactly what happened once it commenced, with Dan, Mark, Jay and Roger only putting food on Kelly and Ali's tables.  The four guys were so arrogant that they even took bites from various junk-food items.

Ali opined that the results of the challenge would be "beyond annihilation" -- and she was right.  Kelly's table had 15,061 calories and Ali's had 14,327.  Dan's table contained 6,736 calories and Mark's had 5,612.  Jay won the challenge with only 4.480 calories on his table, besting Roger by 415 calories.


Pledging to use the $10,000 to take his wife on a vacation once The Biggest Loser was done filming, Allison then revealed Jay could use the cash to purchase a one-pound pass at the upcoming weigh-in.  He would have until then to decide what to do.

Back on campus, Kelly and Ali quickly aligned themselves with one another since they realized they were on the outside looking in.  To make things worse, Mark cooked dinner for everyone and didn't even ask Kelly and Ali if they wanted to join in.  He said he didn't mean any harm, however it only further drew a divide among the two sexes.

Jillian pushed the two women incredibly hard during their last-chance workouts while Bob had his guys participating in a well-regimented routine.

"I'm absolutely confident the Blue Team is going to stay four strong," boasted Dan.  "We're not going anywhere.  Whoever gets in our way -- whoever tries to stop us -- then they have to go."

The Biggest Loser: Couples' thirteenth weigh-in commenced, and the two contestants with the lowest weight-loss percentage would find themselves below the yellow line and thus be up for elimination. 


"Heading into the weigh-in, Kelly and I both know if a girl falls below, we're gone," said Ali.  "It kills us to walk towards that scale."

Jay revealed he had decided to buy the one-pound pass with his $10,000, but vowed he'd still be taking his wife on a vacation using his own money.  He started the week at 206 and lost five pounds -- and with the recently purchased pass -- he posted a 2.91% weight-loss percentage. 

Roger began the week at 242 and shed six pounds for a 2.48% weight-loss percentage and Dan started at 199 and dropped only one pound for a 0.50% weight-loss percentage -- by far his worst showing.

"This deep just sinking feeling I had stepping on that scale, I was trying to convince myself, 'Ah, that's just nerves.  It's just nerves,'" opined Dan.  "I was waiting for a real number to pop up, but it didn't.  Just one."

Mark started the week at 185 and lost four pounds for a 2.16% weight-loss percentage; Ali began at 155 and dropped six pounds for a 3.87% weight-loss percentage; and Kelly started at 199 and shed seven pounds for a 3.52% weight-loss percentage.


Dan and Mark were both below the yellow and would be up for elimination.

"That's what happens when you get girls mad," said Ali as the four former Blue Team members looked on in disbelief.

"I had never fallen below the yellow line before -- this is my first time -- I hate it," said Dan.  "I always looked at the people below and said, 'Sorry but the game got you.  Should have tried a little harder.'  Is that what I say to myself now?"

With an hour to make their decision, Dan and Mark began to pack after sharing an emotional moment with Roger and Jay.  Realizing that Jay wouldn't be voting for his brother -- meaning he was already a vote down -- Dan met with Kelly and Ali to plead his case that he would "love to stay."

However Ali, Kelly and Roger all voted for Dan, who was sent packing from the competition.

"This has been amazing.  This has changed my life forever," said an emotional Dan.  "I proved to myself there's nothing I can't do, so who knows what's in my future now."


The Biggest Loser: Couples' next episode will air Tuesday, April 1 at 8PM ET/PT on NBC.






About The Author: Christopher Rocchio